Naruto & Arashi
by Vegeta the 3rd
Summary: AU: On his way home, Naruto stumbles apon an egg. He didn't expect it to hatch while cooking it though. Especially into a yellow raccoon dog saying "Riolu." Poke'mon Crossover
1. Eggs and Berries

Disclaimer: I hold no rights to Naruto or anything else besides the OC's that might appear in my story.

Naruto & Arashi

Prologue

The battlefield was heavily scarred. Trees were destroyed, earth was scorched and worn out of its green, and countless bloody bodies were scattered around as far as the eye can see. Whether it was half-eaten or crushed, the Shinobi bodies across the scarred outskirts of Leaf ninja village Konoha were all dead. Over a hundred lives lost, as well as Konoha's pride…

But the greatest loss would be that of the Yondaime Hokage, who risked his life to 'slay' the Kyuubi no Yoko, the Ninetailed Fox Demon, who killed nearly all the shinobi on the battlefield, and almost Konoha itself. As to why it did, no one knows.

Nor did anyone know what it really was; a creature whose heart was tightly closed, letting its dark nature reach dangerous heights. The source of this effect is also unknown, but despite this, it wasn't the fox's fault in attacking the village.

The only one aware of this was the leader of the village himself, the Fourth Hokage, or Yondaime. Because of this he didn't 'kill' it, but rather seal it into a newborn, in hopes to reopen its heart. While nobody knew why the Yondaime didn't kill it, a selected few _did_know it was sealed; those few being the Sandaime, Sarutobi, the village council, and the survivors of the battle at the outskirts. The now re-appointed Hokage believed that the fewer people who knew of the boy's fate, the better.

However, word of the mouth always has a way of slipping out…

Chapter 1: Eggs and Berries

Several years passed since the Kyuubi attacked, and old grudges die hard. Not everyone who knew about the fox could sleep peacefully knowing that it nearly killed them was still alive in some shape or form. It wasn't until 6 years after the Kyuubi attacked that villagers decided to revolt and end the vessel's life; a young orphan who the Yondaime sealed the fox into.

While the Hokage refused to tell anyone of the demon but the survivors, _they _told others in the village (friends, family, co-workers). This, of course, was kept hidden by the Hokage who they think was foolish enough to believe the child was innocent. To them, it was a tainted being lost to the fox. They thought to save themselves, and the boy, was to kill it.

It was fairly simple to ambush a child and beat him up. However, the action itself wasn't unfound by the 3rd Hokage, who immediately send ANBU to break up the fighting. While some of them were aware of the fox, the Hokage held better authority over them.

The skirmish was broken up, and the Hokage believed it was best for the boy's sake to establish a new law (with approval from the council of course). No one, as of that night, was allowed to speak a word of the Kyuubi being sealed within Naruto. Those who do would face torture from the head interrogator and/or solitary confinement. Even death, if necessary.

While no more beatings occurred, that didn't stop the people from avoiding him and talking ill of him behind his back. The boy didn't let this bother him, or at least let others know that it did. Through some trial and error, he learned it was best sometimes when people don't know of your true emotions.

Said boy, now 11 years of age, was walking back to his apartment after a long day in the Ninja Academy. It was nothing out of the ordinary; he skipped morning role-call to pull a prank, which involved wrecking a food store. Water and milk was spilled, fruits and vegetables were thrown and squashed, and junk food graffiti was found all over the aisles. The only food assortment that was spared was ramen cups.

His little destination took a sidetrack, however, to his favorite, and Konoha's only, Ramen stand; Ichiraku.

"Hey, old man!" He called to the chef. "A bowl of miso stew ramen, please!"

"Coming right up," he replied, noting the kid's usual order. When he first came to the stand, it was also the first time he tried ramen and instantly got hooked into it. It was the only place he knew where to find ramen (besides ramen cups). He usually lets Iruka pay for the ramen and eats all he can, bringing the poor Chuunin Sensei to bankruptcy every time.

After his meal, he paid and continued home. His stomach growled again as he made a few steps. He didn't have much money with him, and Iruka had to stay after for 'parent-teacher conferences', so he only ate what he could afford, which was 2 bowls. He could eat up to 7 and still have room for dessert, and it was hard to get money when you aren't a ninja or have no family to rely on. Growling in frustration and hunger, he kicked an empty can in front of him at a trashcan. The impact rattled it and the boy could swear he saw something move, something round…

Curiosity got the better of him as he stepped closer to check it, where it was well hidden behind three trashcans set up in a triangle form. He moved aside the one in front, and enduring the smell of fish, sauce and other waste the whole time, reached to grab it. He stopped midway when he got a better glimpse of it.

"That's the biggest egg I've seen in my life!" He exclaimed to no one in particular. Indeed it was a big egg, approximately six times bigger than a chicken egg. It was a grayish white color with patches of green spread around it. It could have been one of the prehistoric eggs Iruka once talked about, but he couldn't be too sure.

He leaned closer to pick it up, amazed how something like this managed to stay unscratched for so long, with no parent of the sort. Then again, being protected by a trash circle is bound to lure away predators who like eggs.

"HEY!" the boy, Uzumaki Naruto, froze in mid-thought. The man who shouted at him was an Inuzuka; he could tell from the light blue face paint on his face. The man was actually a midget; he was obviously older but not much taller than Naruto, who was the shortest kid in the academy. His attire was like a Jounin; an open green vest and black pants with a weapon pouch tied to his side. His face was long and black, reaching to his butt, and the two lines of face paint that crossed through his eyes and nose in an irregular 'Y' shape, meeting above his upper lip, only added to his rebel look. His brown eyes glared at Naruto; but not like the other villagers who hated just him; this guy seem to hate _everyone_.

"Who the hell are ye, trespassin' in me property?" He demanded, his grunt voice sounding like some hermit farmer. Funny thing is he was just that; he may be an Inuzuka, but his horse was away from the clan grounds and there were vegetables growing in the dirt just across the trash where the two were standing. Naruto was so caught in his hunger that he didn't even notice he wandered near someone's own two-story home!

"Uh, sorry! Just passing through!" said Naruto, scratching the back of his head while hiding the egg behind himself. "I'll be leaving now."

He started walking backwards out but didn't make more than five steps when he bumped into something pointy and wet. He slowly turned around to find the largest dog he's ever seen in his life. It had a grayish tint of fur, towered both Naruto and the Inuzuka, and had a cute little red ribbon on the top of its head. Naruto knew that the Inuzuka clan was known for raising fierce fighting canines. Frankly, he's never seen a full grown Inuzuka dog so he had no clue that all of them grow to be about 3-5 ft when they're old enough.

"Uh…nice doggie?" Naruto tried to calm it down as he reached to pet it, only to get barked at and flinch. The dog was anything but nice. In fact, it was probably as crazy as this Inuzuka hermit.

"Inju-chaaaaaan!"(1) The Inuzuka shouted. "We got or'selves a trespasser!"

Naruto immediately screamed and ran the opposite direction of the dog, leaping over fences as he did so. Inju-chan leaped towards him but only as a warning, since it landed on where he once was, and gave off a few loud barks. The Inuzuka climbed up onto his dog, and dramatically pointed towards the retreating form of his target.

"Sick him, Inju-chan!" He commanded.

The dog howled, then leaped over the fence and chased after one Uzumaki Naruto.

--

"Oh Sasuke-kun! You look soooo cute!"

Uchiha Sasuke sighed; again as he walks home, he is stalked by two girls the "Sasuke Fan-girl Club", which was founded around the time he first came to the academy. At first, he was kind of flattered by all the attention, but it soon became annoying when they always follow you whenever you go and they always fight amongst themselves to see who can 'win his heart'.

Coincidentally, they were two of the most stubborn fan-girls he's ever met; Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. As usual, the two of them are attempting to ask him out on a 'date' (which he would never agree to since none of them haven't even reached puberty yet), and the former was starting off trying to flatter him with compliments. It would have worked, but something was _very _wrong with that statement.

"I'm not cute, Sakura," He snorted. He then mumbled something that sounded like "I'm handsome."

"I agree, Sasuke-kun!" said Ino. "You are indeed more handsome than cute."

The last Uchiha groaned; he had it worse enough when his older brother killed his entire clan instead of him, but now he had to be tortured by these fan-girls who try too hard to understand him when they have no idea what he could be going through. Now he realized why his brother loathed _his _fangirl club with every fiber in his being. They were so annoying! Do they even have personal lives?!

"Now that that's settled, can I go home now, without you two following me again?" Sasuke asked. The three of them were walking back to the Uchiha manor, with the two girls following behind. This is a daily ritual that, unless by some miracle he is able to outwit and/or lose the girls following him, happens every time after they get let out the academy.

"But Sasuke-kun," said Sakura. "Our parents won't be home until 8:00, being parent-teacher conference and all, so we're free for three whole hours!"

"Which gives us every reason to make the most of it!" Ino pointed out. Sakura gasped.

"You mean…?" Ino nodded as the two of them grinned.

"SLEEPOVER!!" The two girls squealed, completely ignoring Sasuke as he shuttered in fear. There was no WAY he would get stuck with these two for the whole night. Of course, it occurred to him that Sakura and Ino weren't best of friends anymore; just bitter rivals to win him; not that he cared. They must have planned this so they would get to know him more and overall try harder in their date requests. Cleaver little witches.

Then, he was struck by inspiration, and smirked. "Heh, alright, I'll go." The girls gasped. That sure got their attention.

"But I need some stuff back at my house, and I don't think it would best for a sleepover, being old and dusty and all…" The girls were practically drooling now. He never played girls like this before, and he didn't care if they would hate him if he lied to them. In fact, he was hoping that would be the case. Perhaps those flirting tips his brother taught him would actually be of use after all.

"So if you two would go prepare at your house; any house would be fine; I'll come around in…" He glanced at the sky, as if judging its position. "10 minutes or so. Feel free to do anything before then to prepare." He smirked. That did it; hook, line, sinker.

"YAAAAAAY!! SASUKE-KUN LOVES ME!!" The two girls squealed. Finally, their Sasuke was spending quality time with them! As they walked away, arguing where to hold the sleepover, Sasuke breathed with relief. He didn't think it would actually work, and he was never one to lie. He would have to come up with a big excuse for this one when they found out he lied to them.

"Ah well, at least I'm free for tonight." He smiled as he started walking again, eyes closed. He didn't make much distance as a blur of yellowish white (2) bashed into him at his right side, tumbling them both to the ground.

"N-naruto! What the hell are you doing here?!" Sasuke shouted brushing the dirt of his clothes. He was not in the mood to put up with Naruto after he was just guaranteed a fangirl-less night.

Naruto looked at his egg before answering. "Sorry, Sas-wait a minute, no I'm not sorry, you stuck up jerk! I don't even have time to explain because some lunatic Inuzuka is chasing me and-"

"What Inuzuka? Did you tick off Kiba again?!" Sasuke knew that he Naruto didn't have good reputation with their classmate, Inuzuka Kiba, but he didn't think he would get another one of Kiba's clan ticked off at him. Before Naruto could explain, a shuriken whizzed right between them, striking on the ground. The two of them stared at the weapon, starked white at the fact that the weapon almost hit them.

"HEY!" The voice boomed. Naruto and Sasuke both turned towards the voice to find the hermit and his dog glaring down, with a hand twirling a kunai knife. The man pointed his free-hand thumb behind him.

"Get yer ass back to me property so I can criticize ye being in me property!" He sneered.

"What the hell is the point in that?!" Naruto shouted.

"And who are you?" asked Sasuke. He was curious who would be the man that Naruto got chasing him.

The hermit grunted. "Name's Inuzuka Takeo(3), and the point is that no one gave ye the right to leave me property!"

"You never said I can stay or leave!" Naruto shouted in his defense.

"That doesn't matter! I'll drag yer l'il ass back if I have to!" Takeo thrust his finger at him. "And I'll be takin' that l'il egg you stole from me too!"

"You idiot!" Sasuke growled at Naruto. "You stole it from him?! Are you just_ trying _to get on everyone's bad side?!"

"Hey! He threw this egg away in the trash!" said Naruto. "So like the saying goes, you trash is my treasure! So BLEH!" He kept a firm hug on the egg while sticking his tongue out at Takeo, which only irritated him more.

"I'll teach you not to make a monkey out of this old dog! Get that egg back, Inju-chan!" The dog barked at his command.

Just as the dog was about to lunge, Sasuke pointed out behind him. "Look, someone's in your property!" he said.

"WHAT?!" Takeo shouted as he and he dog turned around to see their house, indeed, had someone walking on the lawn. "HEY! GET YER SORRY L'IL ASS OFF ME PROPERTY! Charge, Inju-chan! CHAAAARGE!" The Inuzuka dog leaped off the road and hurried along to the house, leaving the two boys staring at it.

"How did you know someone was his, uh, 'property'?" asked Naruto.

"I didn't…" Sasuke answered. "I just said that so we could use a distraction and run off."

"Oh…" An uneasy silence passed between them, with the only sound being the wind.

"So uh, thanks for the help, Sasuke." Sasuke gave him a look that clearly stated 'You owe me'.

And with that said, the two of them parted ways, Sasuke briefly wondered what kind of egg it was that Naruto found, before remembering to enjoy his free, peaceful night.

--

Naruto made sure that Takeo or anyone else wasn't chasing him again before entering his apartment. Then he wasted no time in preparing his meal. The stove was on, burning just under the frying pan. Naruto licked his lips thinking on what to make it; scrambled, sunny-side up, or perhaps an omelet? It was while since he had anything related to an egg, so he had no idea what to go for.

He decided to wing it and come up with an idea as he cooked the egg. He picked it up, not noticing that it shaking a bit. Just as he was about to crack it open, expecting the yolk to come out, the egg hatched. And it wasn't a chicken.

He didn't even know what to call it. It was small, bright yellow, and looked like some kind of humanoid dog. The arms and legs were surprisingly tiny, as its green body, with the legs painted in light green as well. The arms shined yellow, and had some metal spikes rising on the flat surface of the wrist. The tail it had was long and soft, but also sensitive like its tiny frame. The only body part that was big was its head, with surprisingly two sets of ears; two lumps on the top and long floppy ears on its sides. It sat there, on the hot frying pan, staring at Naruto with its wide red eyes. The boy could only stare back at awe, at what seemed to be one of the most amazing things he's seen in his life.

Of course, this experience was short lived as the sizzling on the frying pan grew louder and it started to process in both minds that the creature's bum was burning.

'_Riiiiiiiii!'_ It cried as it leaped in the air with its rear end on fire.

"!!" Naruto cursed, quickly turning off the stove. He then rushed over to the sink and turned on the water, and brought the creature over to sit in it, drenching the fire and sighing in relief as it did so. After some breaths of relief, Naruto forced a laugh, hoping to release some tension from earlier.

"Well, you're no chicken, that's for sure!"

'_Ri-o?'_

_--_

Thankfully, the burn on the creature's butt wasn't very fatal. Naruto felt guilty of even thinking about eating it, so he set it on a bowl of cold water, to help ease it a bit. It was during which that experience that he got a good look at it. It was indeed male.

_That thing must be some sort of super-dog…I wonder what he eats._ Luckily, Naruto had a month-time supply of cup ramen to eat, with plenty enough to share with the little dog. In no time, he cooked and prepared two home-cooked cups of ramen; one for him, and the other for the dog.

'_Lu?'_

"Dig in, little guy!" said Naruto, and he handed the yellow dog a fork. He used his own and happily scooped and chewed the food he claimed to be god's food. His newfound, uh, 'pet', after watching him eat a few mouthfuls, started to follow suit of his eating form, (albeit fidgeting with the utensils) and ate some of the ramen, expecting something very delicious.

He was very disappointed.

Naruto stopped eating, after noticing the creature's bulging eyes and bloated mouth. He assumed he loved the stuff, considered most people would freeze mid-eating when they figure out they love something. However, that thought was immediately dismissed as the dog turned and spat the noodles onto Naruto's face.

It then occurred to him that people freeze mid-eating not when they _like_ something that they're eating, but_ hate_ it as well.

"AAAAAHH! HOT NOODLES! HOT NOODLES!" Naruto screamed, feeling the stinging sensation of hot noodles and broth all over his face. He ran for the sink, tripping on his chair doing so, and hurriedly washed his face to relief the hot ramen spit from his face. All the while, the dog watched as his clumsy antics, more interested in him than his food.

After the blonde academy student finished washing off the broth, he turned to see the dog staring at him. It made him very uncomfortable, being watched like that. It was different though. The staring he usually gets from strangers are ones of scorn, hate, and sometimes nothing, because some people would rather completely ignore him then do anything. This look this dog was given was different. Like a sort of admiration. Hell, he thought he could him smiling.

_What a minute, dogs don't smile! Then again, it's not really normal, and Inuzuka dogs _do _smile, but…it's still weird…_

_--_

Through some baby talk at constant feeding, Naruto could see that the little guy could only say five letters, in the form of some word, Riolu. Since he didn't have any better ideas for names (Super Ramen hating dog, Shiny, Tanuki, and even Lucky were all declined to the dog's favor), he just decided to call him Riolu for the time being. They soon left the apartment after many failed attempts to eat the ramen. Nothing worked; tickling, force feeding, bribing, he even tried the choo-choo train! Nothing would change this dog's mind about his distaste for ramen. Of course, the dog was still hungry and with nothing but ramen in his apartment, Naruto thought the only logical choice was to go out and buy some dog food or something he can eat.

That was much easier said then done though. Every food or general store he entered in the past half hour refused to give him service, which is no surprise to him, and some of them even literally kicked him out, shouting stuff about 'no more pranks!'. It was also no surprise since he destroyed one of the food stores earlier.

Naruto didn't let it get to him; after years of getting treated that way, you sort of get use to it. It doesn't mean he wouldn't rather wish that he was treated better around here. What seemed to worry him most was how down his dog was. Everyone stared at him, confused as to how Naruto would have gotten such a creature following him. This brought about more attention than usual, but not the good kind that he wanted.

But what Naruto didn't notice, since he wasn't very good at the academy, was Rioru was admitting a strong aura around it, getting stronger the more stores declined them, which brought the interest of even expert Shinobi. The ninja sensing that aura left the scene quickly, hurrying to inform the Hokage about this.

Just when Naruto was about to give up this food search, Rioru stopped walking and its rising aura seemed to vanish. It sniffed into the air a few seconds, and then dashed along to find the source of the scent.

"W-wait! Little Riolu!" Naruto called off to it, following the dog.

--

When Naruto caught up with the dog, panting, he didn't bother to look around until he started scolding him. "Now, (pant), I know that (pant), that you're hungry (pant), and all, but (pant), you can't…(pant), …just…"

Naruto stopped ranting and panting as he looked around the landscape. It was a forest clearing, one of the largest he's ever seen; peaceful, tranquil, and filled with tall plant-like trees. The trees had patches of berries growing on them, varying in size, shape, and color.

The dog wasted no time in rushing over to one tree and jumping up, trying to reach one of the two pink berries. After a few failed attempts, it rushed back to Naruto.

'_Ri! Ri!'_ It squeaked, tugging on Naruto's hand.

"Wh-what? Ok, ok! I'll get you some!"

Naruto walked to the tree and plucked one of the berries hanging there. He tossed it to Rioru, which stared at it like Naruto would at ramen before eating it. It took one more big sniff, to savor its scent, and started eating it.

"That good, huh?" asked Naruto, and the dog merely nodded before continuing to consume the fruit. Being the curious boy he was, the blonde also picked a berry, examining it up close. It was an odd shape; starting from where it was plucked off, it has curve pointing down, forming a sort of mini-crescent. Kinda like a banana. It is pink in color, with a hint of yellow at the tip of the curve. He tries a bit, feeling a very sweet, citrus taste.

"Wow! This is the best fruit I've ever tasted!" He shouted, with much surprise in his statement. It was a while since he's eaten fruit, mostly because he could never find/buy fruit without getting caught or declined service, so this was a big first for him.

The two of them continued to eat peacefully, unaware of everything else as a woman came into the clearing. She was old; about in her 70's or 80's. Despite that, her body didn't seem to show any weakness of old age. Her old blonde hair was tied behind her back, shoulder height, topped with a hat scarf on her head. She wore a red vest over a white long sleeved shirt, along with a pair of long navy blue pants.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded rather than asked. Her voice was a little raspy, but still hold demeanor. Naruto and the Riolu, surprised by her sudden appearance, nearly chocked on the food before answering.

"Wh-when you get here?" Naruto asked, surprised someone found him here. This place looked so secluded to everyone, even himself!

"Just now." She answered patiently. Her face wasn't scary or showed any negativity, but impassiveness. "This is my secret berry orchard, which I put a lot of time and effort into. I don't really like the fact of people just waltzing in and eating whatever they like."

"Oh…" said Naruto. He had to admit, he too would get peeved if someone would ruin something he put a lot of effort into. Eating an egg from nowhere, picking berries from someone else's orchard; it wasn't a prank, so he had no real reason to be bothering Takeo or this woman.

"I'll just be going now then." he said quietly, picking up his dog-thing and made his way to leave, only to realize he isn't moving. He tried moving more, and more, until he was running frantically, which he was actually being held at the end of his shirt by the old woman. His frantic legs did move but just make a dust cloud on the dirt below.

"You're not going anywhere yet." she told him.

"W-why not?" asked Naruto. The woman turned his body around to the tree in front of him, and he watched as it was slowly, but surely, withering and shrinking into the soil it was planted in.

"What happened?" he asked again, as he watched the tree shrink to the bottom of the dirt.

"That tree had two Mago berries on it, and you and your dog went up and plucked them both. This is what happens to a berry tree when you pluck out all its berries. I'm just thankful that I'm already growing other Mago plants, because it would have been a terrible shame to loose a quantity of berries and not being able to plant them again."

"Oh. Uh…sorry."

The woman didn't seem to care about the apology, but she heard it. "You should be; it's hard enough as it is doing this day in and day out, alone most of the time." She started walking around the orchard, all the while dragging Naruto, much to his displeasure.

"I want you to water, fertilize, and replant when I say so." said the woman. "It's a tough job for only one person to handle, and this might help you learn the hardship of gardening."

"Wait, gardening is hard work?!" Naruto said. "How is it so hard to take care of a few little plants?!"

"I assure you, young man, it's _very _hard. Just like you, me, and that dog, plants are living creatures too; just don't move as much and need us to help them benefit them. Think of it like taking care of pets.

"You have to remember all sorts of things when taking care of pets; when to walk them, when to give them water, when to feed, or _what_ to feed them. Berries such as these are no different; they need plenty of water and sunshine to help make sweet, succulent fruit, or for this case; sometimes spicy, dry, sour, or bitter. Berries are divided into those five taste groups."

"Wait a minute; there are berries that are actually _spicy?!_"

The woman saw Naruto's fearful expression and felt a smile cross her lips. "Small word, isn't it, young man?"

--

Two hours later, Naruto found himself apologizing to the slightly injured old woman. "Uh, sorry old lady, for the plants…and the fertilizer…and your head."

It took a while, but the woman, who introduced herself as Azami(4), was able to ingrain in Naruto's mind the basics of gardening. His efforts were lacking a bit in all of them though; he either watered too little or too much for some trees, ruined a good bag of fertilizer when trying to bring it over, and nearly knocked the old woman unconscious with a hoe (by accident of course, she was hit by the handle). He was later deducted use of any gardening tool bigger than a hand shovel.

The Rioru merely gave berries so they could plant them. He tried eating some of them, but it turned out that he hated dry berries, and once he toke a bit of that Chesto, he spat it right back out, afraid to try anything that could actually be dry. It amazed Naruto greatly that just planting one of these berries can create a tree of berries. It could be endless multiplying of berries that way.

Azami merely chuckled. "Don't worry yourself, young man. I've seen worse attempts at gardening." Her chuckling seemed to grow louder, but not so much as a full blown laughter. "Much, _much,_ worse."

"I-I see…" said Naruto, trying to chuckle himself but failed. It was…weird. This woman, whom he met as recently as that crazy Takeo, wasn't as strict as the other villagers. He knew there were still good people in Konoha, despite what they usually say/do to him, but he never really imagined it would happen so soon. What if Azami was just using him like everyone else? Hell, she didn't get all mad that he was calling her 'old lady'. Some body guards once pointed all their weapons at him and threatened him to 'show respect' when they first heard him call the Hokage 'old man Hokage'.

"Uh, obaasan, why aren't you mad at me?"

Azami seemed a bit taken by this. "Pardon me?"

"I-I'm not saying I don't like you, it's just…" He sighed. "A lot of people seem to hate me or just completely ignore for some reason. I don't know why though..."

The Riolu stared at him with its sad, red eyes, its presence almost unknown to Naruto. Azami stared too, feeling ashamed, but for what, Naruto wasn't sure. This eerily silence dragged on, until Azami spoke with a soft smile.

"Why of course not, lad." Naruto and Rioru looked up with surprise and hope. "You may have made a mistake when entering my orchard and eating berries for the fun of it, but you immediately apologize when others in your postition could of just run off. You had every opportunity to run but didn't and helped do your part."

"But I _didn't_ have a choice for that matter!" Naruto interrupted. "I tried to walk away, like you said, but you grabbed me!"

Azami's smile grew wider. "I said _run_, young man, not _walk._" Naruto flushed in embarrassment, while Riolu chuckled, or at least that's what it sounded like.

"Nevertheless," she continued. "You've shown that you can be responsible for your own actions and that's ideal for any uprising ninja. Remember that."

Naruto, getting praise and acceptance from someone other than the Hokage for the first time, was speechless. He had to resist the urge to hug her, if somehow ruining the moment. "Thanks, obaasan." He smiled. "And, if it's not too much trouble, maybe me and my Riolu here, can, you know, help out with the orchard. If that's ok…"

Azami smiled. "Anytime lad, I'd appreciate it. Now, you better get going. It must be way past your bedtime."

Indeed, it was. Now in the clearing, where it was bright and peaceful, it was almost completely covered in shadow. Usually, Konoha is a beautiful place to look at in nighttime than at daytime, where the lights in the village can be seen for as far as the eye can see. Naruto grew excited at the thought to see Konoha after-dark with his golden-clad Riolu, and then noticed that it was getting rather sleepy.

"And it would seem your little friend needs some sleep too." said Azami. "What's his name?"

"Name?" Naruto chorused.

"Name," Azami repeated. "It seems rather inappropriate to keep calling him 'dog,' 'the Riolu', or even a 'pet'. You do know what to call him, right?"

Naruto was really stumped as he switched in his 'critical thinking' face. He was so worked up on feeding the little guy that he didn't have time to come up with a good name, then one thing led to another in gardening and it just slipped his mind completely. The old lady was right; it _did _seem inappropriate to call it, uh, _him_, those things. It didn't take long to think of one though; he had the perfect name.

"Arashi."

"Pardon?" Azami asked.

Naruto grinned. "That's his name. Arashi, for one day he's going to become a great typhoon that beats up anything in its way!" He emphasized the point by raising his arm in the air.

The old gardener smiled. A cute name to call the Riolu; Uzumaki and Arashi. Whirlpool and Tempest. Go figure. "That's a splendid name for him, young man." she nodded.

Naruto picked the Riolu up the armpits and up high. "It is offical! You are now named Arashi! And together, we're going to become legends, just like the 4th!"

'_Riiiiiii!'_ Arashi cheered, but soon got confused as to _why _it was cheering. _'Oou?'_

Naruto gasped at Arashi's confusion, and stared at him with huge, white eyes. "YOU'RE MEANING TO TELL ME YOU DON'T KNOW WHO THE 4TH HOKAGE IS?!"

'_Riiiii-lu?' _said Arashi.

"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW HIM?! HE'S THE GREATEST NINJA EVER IN KONOHA! LIKE, LIKE ONE TIME HE FOUGHT OFF THESE IWA-NIN IN THE LAST GREAT WAR, AND ALL THOSE MOVES HE DID! HE TELEPORTS, HE SUMMONS, AND HE BEAT THE KYUUBI! HE'S AWESOME!"

Naruto kept rambling on about the 4th's accomplishments, with the newly named Arashi listening with awe, as he walked back to the village. Azami could only chuckle at his positive demeanor. Once his form was out of view, she finally spoke.

"That boy has a good heart." She admitted to no one; A little loud and impulsive, maybe, but still good at heart.

"And to think," she continued, raising her head to stare at the waning crescent moon. "I've been so lucky to see a Rioru again.

"And that young man is lucky to have one."

End Chapter

**A/N**: Yep; it's a Naruto/Pokemon Crossover. And a different take on one if you've noticed. If you don't like it, tough.

No, Naruto doesn't get a Vulpix on this one. I get the reference, but 1) its getting old, and 2) He won't learn much from a Vulpix in being a good ninja since, unlike the Riolu here, it can't fist fight.

P.S. I am not 100 percent sure that Arashi is REALLY the name of the 4th Hokage, but I might as well go with it. Naruto would know because the 4th is obviously his role model, so he would have done research on what else made him so great and try to start from there.

EDIT: SO SORRY for taking so long. 6 months is impressively long for a break, isn't it? Anyway, I saw some errors in this story which have been driving me crazy lately, so I decided to fix any spelling errors I've come across, and also gave a better reason as to name the Riolu Arashi rather than the fake identity given out and found on this website.

1.) Inju means 'Ribbon'  
2) This is still before Naruto got his orange jumpsuit, as he wore a white t-shirt in his regular academy days. Unless of course you've forgetten…  
3) Takeo means 'Warrior'  
4) Azami means 'thistle flower'

Now for something different.

Naruto & Arashi! Omake! #1

"You really should be playing around there…" Inuzuka Kiba warned, leaning against a fence board. He had nothing else better to do other than put up with his sister back at home, so he thought that he could get a kick at teasing some kids. He found it amusing he found three of them playing around _his _place.

"Why not?" One of the kids asks, pausing from their game of tag.

"You mean you don't know?" None of the kids answered. "Well, you didn't here this from me, but that's the house of…" he looked around as if he was about to speak an omen. "…Inuzuka Takeo."

The kids didn't seem threatened. "Who's Takeo?"

"Only one of the best Shinobi, much less Inuzuka, around Konoha." He answered, starting to pace onto the lawn, with his puppy, Akamaru, following. "He's very paranoid, short, and has a bad temper. Some people think he's just insane! And he is; in a way, never trusting anyone with his property; let it be house, dog, or equipment.

"He decided that he couldn't put up with it anymore, and moved out from the Inuzuka housing grounds, and ultimately retired ninja status. It was no skin off our backs though; the Jounin and Inuzukas wanted him gone for a long while now, since he was so loud and would chase everyone around the village."

He started to note the kids getting a little fidgety and showed plenty of fear. Man, he didn't think scaring little kids would be so fun! Of course, he was so boastful that he didn't notice Akamaru whimpering; or why for that matter.

"He's very intimidating; despite his small size, he looks very scary, has this big dog, and before you know it, he come to ya when you're not looking and say-"

"What the hell do you think you're doing in me property?!" Kiba froze; that was definitely the voice of Inuzuka Takeo, the hermit. Immediately, the kids all screamed and ran off; one of them bumping into a light pole before running again.

"Uh...hi, Takeo. Long time, no see…" said Kiba quietly. The older Inuzuka just glared at him, as if wondering if he's worth it to chase. Even if they were from the same clan, this guy won't hesitate in chasing someone down, for being on his property. Kiba quickly remembered this and leaped out of the lawn, quickly picking up Akamaru as he did so.

"Uh…see ya!" and with that, Kiba ran off, too scared to see if Takeo was chasing him or not. He wasn't.

The old Inuzuka smirked; it was true what that kid said about him being paranoid, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. He didn't understand, however, was that people would still 'accidentally' play or walk on his lawn.

"You'd think everyone would steer clear if you were a crazy old ninja with a big scary dog, eh Inju-chan?" He asked.

Inju-chan replied with a loud affirmative bark.


	2. Power of a Riolu

Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Pokemon, but I do claim any OCs that may appear in this story (like Takeo and Azami). This is merely a made up story to entertain myself, and hopefully, people of both fandoms. Enjoy.

"That's the biggest damn egg I've ever seen!" Normal speech  
'_Must be some sort of super dog.'_ Normal thoughts  
"_Riiiiii-o?" _Pokemon speak  
"**BOOYA!/Insolent whelp…" **Inner Sakura/Demon Speak  
"_**Curse him, curse him to hell!" **_Demon thoughts

Naruto & Arashi

Chapter 2: Power of a Riolu

Sarutobi sighed. Being Hokage wasn't all that was cracked up to be. For one thing, there was paperwork; a **lot **of paper work. Hell, he would have to stay after dark sometimes just to finish sorting out some of the complicated forms and complaints every day. Since he was the ruler of the village, he also had to go through some new appointed laws that get passed by the council and would have to get passed by him or be vetoed.

This night was no different. And as usual, he would see some laws-to-be that involve Naruto. "Keep unadulterated children away from food stores.", "No unadulterated children allowed into the Academy unless appointed by guardian or otherwise.", "No shirt, no shoes, no adults, no service." The list just keeps going. While these rules meant for orphans and to regulate any crime, they're usually are targeted towards Naruto because no one would want to adopt him and they want to put him in his place.

The 3rd Hokage sometimes had to reread some of them to find some loophole or trick to these demands. Once he's sure, he can veto it or pass it. Usually though, some laws can be overwritten by his veto if a 3/5s of the village all vote yes again. Some of those types of laws were passed because of this, unfortunately.

Even as strong as he is, a Hokage's power isn't absolute in law and order. He was barely able to convince the council to not reveal the identity of Naruto's fate. It saddened him that not everyone was happy in his village. The previous Hokages always did everything in their power to protect their village, even if it meant their lives. When did it get so hard for him to help everyone? How was it he couldn't make everyone happy no matter what he did? Why can't he help one poor child more than he already can? What happened to his carefree years when he was teaching Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru?

The Sandaime took a deep inhale on his pipe, then sighed, releasing some steam from his mouth. _'I'm getting too old for this. If only one of them were here to take over the position of Hokage…'_

"Hokage-sama!" That blurt along with a series of loud knocks was more than enough to break Sandaime out of his train of thought.

"Enter," He answered. The door to his office opened, and two Chuunin entered the room. One was wearing a cap bearing the Leaf symbol over his head with his brown hair covering his right eye. The other one had spiky black hair all over the place, wore a Leaf headband across his forehead, and a loin cloth across the bridge of his nose.

"Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu. What brings you here tonight?"

"We've have something to discuss involving the brat, Uzumaki Naruto." The spiky haired Chuunin known as Kotetsu stated.

_'Should've known…' _The Hokage thought bitterly, but replied, "If it's about the food store, I've already heard." News tends to travel fast, and he was already informed about this from some other Jounin earlier today.

"That's not it, Hokage-sama." Izumo corrected.

Sarutobi was surprised. Surely Naruto couldn't pull two pranks today?! "What do you mean?" he said evenly, with a hint of concern.

"Well, it is, but, _after _that incident I mean. You see, shortly after he left, he was seen being chased around several blocks by an Inuzuka and his dog. It was later clarified to be Takeo. But what happened afterwards is the really strange part."

The Sandaime now felt curious. What could be stranger for Naruto other than being a 'demon jailer' and being chased by an ex-Jounin?

"You see," Izumo continued. "We personally asked Uchiha Sasuke about this, because he was the only person who got close enough to see what he had. He said Naruto was holding an egg; a large one at that, while being chased. He didn't know what it was nor bothered to ask. We also interviewed Takeo about this and he said that he stole the egg from his trashcan. Later, he and a bright yellow racoon dog were walking around the whole village and got declined to a total of 3 general stores and 6 food stores. The creature emitted a strong chakra spike each time they were declined, and surprisingly vanished a little later."

"What are you getting at?" asked Sarutobi.

"We think the kid has found a Riolu." Kotetsu answered. The silence that soon followed was short but seemed to last a lot longer. It was surprising that a retired Shinobi had an egg under his nose, but for it to be a Riolu egg? The Hokage started to clear his voice before speaking.

"Are you absolutely sure? We haven't seen one in over-"

"-15 years, I know." Izumo interrupted. "We're having doubts too, with it being yellow instead of blue, but the thing has the same features and abilities as any other Riolu."

"And you assume that it came from the egg Naruto found earlier?" Sarutobi asked again.

"I don't see any other logical explanation, Hokage-sama." said Kotetsu. Both he and Izumo had a hard time believing all this as well, but it was pretty hard to ignore the fact that a Riolu has reappeared after so long, in Naruto's care no less.

"What should we do with it, Hokage-sama?" Izumo asked.

"It'll be hard to take that Riolu away from him, now that it thinks the kid's his mom…" Kotetsu stated as-a-matter-of-factly. It was only common knowledge that a newborn would instantly think the first person it sees as its parent.

The Third Hokage thought long and hard about this. The Riolu was possibly the only one of its kind, let alone Poke'mon, around for miles. The Poke'mon all seemed to disappear from Konoha's forest since the Kyuubi attacked. Still, was it really a bad thing for Naruto to have it?

"Let's have the boy keep the Riolu." This very statement from the Hokage shocked both Chuunin present.

"Hokage-sama! Are you sure?" Izumo asked.

Sarutobi nodded. "Naruto never had anyone to watch over him this past decade, so he usually had to rely on his own wits just to survive. While this Riolu might be a very special case, this might help Naruto learn a little responsibility and give him the family he never had." The Riolu may never be a good replacement for him, but at least Naruto would have something relevant to a family and not be completely alone. It's a shame the same couldn't be done for Sasuke.

Before both Chuunin could say something, and Sarutobi had a good idea what, he quickly added, "And it might keep him away from doing pranks on the village." Izumo and Kotetsu hesitated, exchanged glances, and said nothing. They seemed all okay for that. But there was still a problem, or rather two.

"What if the kid doesn't want the Riolu?" Kotetsu asked.

"And what about the council?" Izumo added.

The Sandaime was already aware that he would inform the council about this situation, but it didn't occur to him that Naruto might have not wanted this responsibility in the first place. He was always goofing off, hiding the fact that he hates to be alone, and no one even bothers to see how false it is, or have tried but couldn't. It took himself a while to see through Naruto's 'happy go lucky mask'. Surely he can't keep up such a façade forever.

"Worry not; I'll take care of everything." He said. "Thank you for informing me. But would you mind if you tell Takeo to come see me? I like to ask about this matter with him personally."

"Of course, Hokage-sama." They said simultaneously.

"Very good. Dismissed."

Satisfied, Kotetsu and Izumo bowed and left the Sandaime to continue his paperwork.

--

After the two of them got home, Naruto told Arashi all sort of stories about Namikaze Minato, where most of the time he either rambled or looked into a book of the Fourth Hokage. The textbook didn't have much, but Naruto improvised, and Arashi enjoyed every minute of it. The storytelling lasted until Naruto realized that the Rioru was sleeping, and he soon dozed off too.

The next morning, Naruto ate his ramen and Arashi ate some Pecha berries Azami gave them. The Pechas were hollow inside and didn't have enough sweetness that a Mago did, but it was suitable.

"Well, I have to go to the academy today, Arashi." Naruto told him after breakfast.

"_Riiio…"_ Arashi whined.

"Hey, I don't wanna leave either, but I have to be a great ninja someday and I can't do that if I keep skipping out on the academy." _Although most of the stuff there is boring anyway…_ Naruto mused. He was just glad that he didn't get born as a girl and go through silly stuff like flower arrangement, and put up with even more boring stuff.

"_Riolu!"_ The dog whined again, flailing its arms around. _"Rio, ri ri lu o!"_

"What?" Naruto asked, scratching his head. He didn't understand a word he just said, so he decided to take a guess and ask. "You want to come to the academy with me?"

"_Rio!"_

"Well…" said Naruto. He didn't see any harm in it. It might get him more attention this way from everyone, like he always wanted, and pets aren't really restricted, if they can train under ninja arts like their owners. Kiba's dog and Shino's bugs can be in the academy with them, so what's the harm in bringing Arashi? Besides, he can't really trust him to be good on his own, with nothing much to do and that land owner…

"Ok, you can come." Naruto grinned, and in turn Arashi cheered. "But you got to be on your best behavior, ok?"

"_Riiiiolu!"_

--

"This is all you're fault, Ino!" Sakura ranted.

"_My _fault?!" screeched Ino. "Everything would have been fine if Sasuke-kun knew which house to go to!"

Sasuke tried hard to ignore the girls bickering at one another over the failed sleepover last night. He didn't bother going over to either of their houses, since he would rather be at home training. His 'lie' didn't effect at all how they reacted towards him, but rather towards each other.

His afternoon, however, wasn't as peaceful as he had hoped. 2 Jounin came to his house a little later and asked about Naruto's egg. He told them he didn't know what it was, but stole it from Takeo's trashcan. It really relieved him, though, when he found out it was them at the door and not Sakura or Ino last night, coming over to remind him of the sleepover...

It was around the time that Naruto stepped into the classroom, along with a little yellow dog hanging over his shoulder. Sasuke never saw anything of its kind before, and it didn't look like any Inuzuka dog; most of them were identical, and this one really showed individuality.

Sasuke showed no interest, if he had any, to ask how Naruto got this new creature; he had a good idea how anyway. Everyone else seemed to hush one by one, until everyone finally noticed Naruto's little pet. Both of them stared back in a way that would say "What?"

Inuzuka Kiba decided to voice everyone's thoughts. "Hey, Naruto, where the hell did you get that runt?"

Naruto exchanged a quick glance with Arashi before answering. "I found him."

Kiba smirked. "Where? In a dumpster?" While it was partially true that Naruto found Arashi's egg in a trashcan, the meaning of the insult was enough to make him mad.

"That's for me to know, and for you _not_ to find out, dog boy!" Before Kiba could retort on that comment, the other students gathered around closer and were all saying how Naruto wasn't allowed to bring pets into the academy.

"I can do whatever I want! I'm going to be Hokage some day and they can break laws once in a while!" Everyone basically rolled their eyes at the word 'Hokage'. Being the kid with the lowest grades in history, it was highly unlikely Naruto would get that occupation. But he didn't finish from there.

"Besides, Buggy and Dog boy can bring their pets with them, right?"

"Of course!" Kiba barked while Shino merely nodded. He didn't seem at all fazed at the mention of Buggy, but calling his bugs 'pets' annoyed him a little. Not that anyone noticed.

"Inuzuka hunting dogs and Aburame kikai bugs are necessary tools for their respective clans, thus need to be trained with us." he said.

"Well, if bugs and dogs can be trained like ninja, then Arashi here can too!" Naruto boasted, turning quickly to the Riolu. "Right?"

"_Ri."_ Arashi nodded.

Kiba smirked. "Sure, bugs and dogs can, but that's because they work together with our unique bloodlines! You don't even have one; much less know what that mutt can do for you! He's pretty much useless!"

"That can be said the same for your blind pooch!" Naruto fired back, a few of the students 'oooh'ed at his dis.

"You take back what you said about Akamaru!" Kiba growled, not taking the insult very lightly.

Naruto was equally ticked off. "Not until you take back what you said to Arashi!" The two of them continued to stare of, giving everyone the intention that the two were going to fight…again. Heck, Naruto fights Kiba almost as frequent as he challenges Sasuke, most of which the black haired boy declined over the years. The only ones he took were during sparring matches at the beginning of the year.

It was around this point that Umino Iruka, the class teacher, came into the room. "Alright everyone; back to your seats! Free period is over." Everyone started to walk back to their seats except for Naruto and Kiba, who were still staring. Finally, the Inuzuka boy huffed and broke off the stare, as if thinking the argument wasn't worth his time. Naruto was about to walk back when Iruka stopped him.

"Naruto, what's that on your shoulder?" He asked.

"His name's Arashi." said Naruto. "I found him."

Iruka stared at the dog before nodding slowly. "I see…"

After that, Naruto went to his seat, where Iruka started role call. Naruto could hear whispers from people talking about Arashi. They were rather insults than compliments. Arashi heard this too and started to feel depressed, but Naruto reassured him before his aura gave off again.

"Ok class, take out your textbooks and turn to page 93." The class was full of moans. It was another history lesson.

Naruto was just about ready to 'dose off', but Arashi kept him up feeling he might miss something important. Naruto was about to tell him that Iruka never teaches anything a ninja is worth knowing later on, but Arashi was reluctant. Naruto started to open his book but was on the wrong page, but after glancing at it, he kept on reading.

It also turned out that he wasn't going to forget this little history lesson for a long time.

"_A long time ago, before the world was created, there existed only of a magnificent creature known as Arceus. With its thousand arms, it created the world and universe we live in today Shortly afterwards, Aruceus had created two of its sons, Dialga and Palkia, rulers of time and space respectively, and then created the three essences of our planet, Rayquaza of the skies, Groudon of the earth, and Kyogre of the seas. Another creature known as Mew was said to be born around this time, for it's to be the ancestor of all other creatures before it._

"_Over the years, the world started to populate with unique creatures, along with the human race. The creatures, created by Aruceus, represented the very elements on the earth; the dirt and soil of our planet, the vast open seas, even dark or impure malice. They were unique and very powerful, as well as intelligent. Humans have later developed a capturing device to carry and tame these creatures. These devices, because of the fact they are handheld and carriable, are called Pocket balls or Poke' balls for short. The creatures were named Pocket monsters, or Poke'mon, because of the Poke'balls."_

"UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

"Ahh!" Naruto jerked. He was so stuck in his reading he didn't even remember he had to read along with Iruka.

"Would you mind reading to the class the second paragraph?"

"Uh..right!" Naruto quickly turned his book to page 93 and read the second paragraph without looking it over first. "Each types of Poke'mon have their respective strengths and weaknesses. The fire type, for example, can melt ice, burn grass and-"

During his reading, everyone was keeping a muffled chuckle knowing that Naruto was reading the entirely wrong thing, but then burst into full blown laughter. Naruto slumped back into his seat, embarrassed. He wanted attention, but not if it makes him look like a complete idiot. The fact that he would do pranks all the time implied it, but never proved it.

Iruka sighed as he rubbed his hand against his head. "Naruto, are you even reading out of the right textbook? This is Shinobi History, not science fiction or fantasy."

--

After class, everyone went outside for recess, playing games and practicing and whatnot. Naruto and Arashi, in particular, sat under a tree; the former was rereading his book and the latter eating berry after berry.

The book assigned to Naruto, he knew wasn't the right issue. Heck, it wasn't anything Shinobi related. He, along with the other classmates, all got their books assigned and were told that these would be used until the day they graduate. They can also keep them, for reference in the future. What Naruto didn't understand (at first) was why he got a book that was so different from everyone else. Perhaps someone didn't want to graduate and gave him a hand-me-down?

The pages looked as if they were written years ago, and were brown and surprisingly sturdy. The drawings inside showed diagrams of weird creatures, or Poke'mon, with even weirder names; such as a giant praying mantis called a Scyther or an electric yellow mouse with red cheeks called a Pikachu. Even the cover was foreign looking; it showed a giant picture of a sort of ball; half red on the top, half white on the bottom, with a little white dot in the middle of the two half-circles.

"_Must be what they called a 'Poke'ball',"_ thought Naruto.

"Well, would you look at this?!" Naruto and Arashi glanced up to see Kiba and his group of guys walking towards them. Akamaru, as usual, was sitting on top of Kiba's head.

"The brat's reading his little poodle a bedtime story!" he said. They quickly laughed at his implied joke.

"Shut up, dog boy!" Naruto shouted, not wanting to deal with him right now. "Why not walk yourself to a fire hydrant!?"

The Inuzuka smirked; it was a bad joke and both of them knew it. "Whatever. I don't have time to spend with losers and loser dogs." Again he laughed, walking off.

Naruto was downright seething at his retreating back. Calling him names, he could live with. But calling _Arashi _names?! He put up with enough hard times in his life and just because Arashi was with him doesn't mean he should be treated as such.

Without another thought, Naruto quickly dug into his bag, pulled out an Oran berry, and chucked it at Kiba's head. It exploded at his hood, and stopped the Inuzuka.

"What was that?" He growled, slowly turning towards Naruto.

"Nobody makes fun of Arashi like that." Naruto said with defiance in his words. "Anyone who does, I kick their ass!"

Kiba smirked. Fighting the Academy's dead-last student would do well in satisfying him. He gave Akamaru to one of the kids following him and shifted into his battle stance. "Bring it, brat!"

The mention of Naruto and Kiba fighting spread like wildfire. Almost everyone gathered around to see who would win; some exceptions (Sasuke, Shino, Hinata and Chouji) all stood at the background watching, besides Nara Shikamaru who was napping. Everyone else gathered around the two, chanting "Fight! Fight!" over and over again.

Naruto made the first move. He rushed towards Kiba, attempting to throw a right jab at his face, and then follow up with a wide left kick. Kiba easily dodged the first hit by tilting his head to the left, then sidestepped back from the next, quickly lunging in for a right jab at the gut when his guard was down.

"What the hell was that?!" Kiba spat, enjoying Naruto gasped expression from the punch. His opponent quickly scowled at him, and threw a punch at him again, only to met the same result. Feeling to quickly attack Kiba before he reacts again, Naruto threw punch after punch, advancing as he did so. His punches, however, were swerving from side to side, without any real aim or energy into them. Kiba easily sidestepped each punch, smirking as he did so.

"What's wrong?" He taunted. "Can't hit me? Well, allow ME!" At the end of that sentence, he lunged again, striking a hard punch into Naruto's gut again. He quickly pulled back his arm, swirled around to Naruto's back, and in a swift motion, he swept Naruto's legs and elbowed the back of his neck, causing him to fall down hard.

"Good-for-nothing-dead-last!" He shouted, kicking his side five times, and sending him flying to a tree at the fifth. The impact was hard and Naruto screamed as the cracking of his spine echoed throughout the area. Nobody cheered or gave sympathy. They all just simply watched.

"I almost feel bad for your dog-Arashi, was it?" said Kiba. "He had to find a poor, weak caretaker like you to look after him!" He started laughing, as did mostly everyone else. The ones who didn't continued to watch for amusement.

Arashi stared at everyone with wide eyes. Since he first hatched, everyone was looking at him weird except the nice berry lady. Naruto was always nice to him and would give him feedback that cheered him up. Naruto himself was treated badly and he was only trying to fight for him. But here, he was beaten, and everyone _laughed _at him. How dare they! HOW DARE THEY DO THIS TO HIS MASTER!

In one second, everyone was laughing and enjoying the match that Kiba won, but the next, Arashi disappeared and immediately reappeared, kicking Kiba right in the face. Hard. It was enough to make everyone present speechless.

"The hell?!" Kiba voiced everyone's thoughts after a long silence, rubbing his cheek where he was hit.

"_Riiiiiiiiiiiii…"_ Arashi growled, glaring and showing his canine teeth. His once innocent red eyes were now menacingly seething with anger.

"A-ra…shi?" Naruto choked, still sore from Kiba's beating.

Arashi didn't acknowledge Naruto's concern. All that mattered to him was Kiba. Slowly, his right paw started to glow and increase in size, until it formed a small, silver round sphere. Everyone was surprised, but only Sasuke and Kiba didn't show it. Chouji quickly woke Shikamaru and told him to see this, and the normally lazy student was just as surprised as everyone else.

"Oh, so you know a few tricks, eh?" Kiba taunted, trying to act unthreatened. "Well bring it, mutt!"

Without another warning, Arashi ran towards Kiba, at a speed which would rival even Chuunin and Jounin. Everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the display, if they weren't blinded by the sudden burst of wind around him, that is.

"WHAT THE FU-" Kiba never got to finish his curse, as the Rioru threw his glowing paw at Kiba's gut. He then swung his lithe body to the left, kicking his right chest muscle, and used the momentum to climb up his body with a furry of hits, finishing off with a glowing punch at the head. Kiba was send flying through then area and crashed into a tree, creating a crater about midway deep inside. Kiba's body didn't move, but slumped down from the crater onto the dirt, showing signs of unconsciousness…or death. Akamaru, along with some other kids, rushed over to see if he was ok.

Arashi breathed heavily, in and out, staring at the boy who mocked him, mocked Naruto, and more importantly, he beat up. He didn't know why, but somehow, he felt awful inside. His paw returned to normal and collapsed to his knees, still panting until Naruto came over and picked him up.

If the scene wasn't so serious, he would have praised Arashi how amazing he kicked Kiba's ass. But everyone was staring at them, fear rather than indifference. He knew that he didn't have the energy or heart to go through the rest of the day, nor could Arashi, so he walked away. As he passed through the field, he could hear kids whispering to one another.

"Did you see that?! That dog beat Kiba!"

"I always knew it was weird looking, but I never thought it could pull such a hard punch. Literally."

"Geez, That thing is as much of a freak as its owner."

"I sure hope that brat doesn't use that thing to kill Sasuke-kun."

"No way! Those two are too weak to pull that off! Nobody could possibly beat Sasuke-kun!"

"It nearly killed Kiba _without getting hit!_ What makes you think that monster can't do the same for Sasuke!?"

"Shhhh! You don't want to get _it _mad, do you?!"

"YEAH YOU BETTER RUN, DEMONS!"

That last comment was a yell rather than a whisper. Naruto gave no remark to the rude and hurtful comments, while he was in just as much shock at Arashi's power. Maybe a trip to Azami's would help them feel better.


	3. Making Amends

Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Pokemon, but I do claim any OCs that may appear in this story (like Takeo and Azami). This is merely a made up story to entertain myself, and hopefully, people of both fandoms. Enjoy.

"That's the biggest damn egg I've ever seen!" Normal speech  
'_Must be some sort of super dog.'_ Normal thoughts  
"_Riiiiii-o?" _Pokemon speak  
"**BOOYA!/Insolent whelp…" **Inner Sakura/Demon Speak  
"_**Curse him, curse him to hell!" **_Demon thoughts

Naruto & Arashi

Chapter 3: Making Amends

'_The council is getting harder to please these days…" _Sarutobi mused. He was just walking out of the meeting hall, to discuss Naruto's discovery of a Riolu, and almost immediately the whole council erupted with demands and complaints. It toke him a good hour to calm them down and another to convince them to have the Rioru stay in his care. That is of course, that if Naruto wants to keep the Rioru.

The Sandaime was glad things went smoothly as they did. The council would do anything to save a certain clan from extinction. While they couldn't reach Sasuke's needs for whatever reason, they could easily take away the Riolu and raise it to an adult, capable to mate and making more Riolu. They can be very desperate when they need to, and it sickened him. Even if it was the first Poke'mon they've come in contact with in over a decade, they had no right to assume immediately what was best for the Riolu met what was best for the village.

"Hokage-sama!" The Hokage broke out of his train of thought as a recognizable scarred Chuunin rushed over to see him. When he finally caught up, he leaned forward and supported himself on his knees, a sign of exhaustion.

"Ah, Iruka. What is it?" He asked.

"Its…Naruto…and…his Riolu…" Iruka panted.

"_Again?" _Sarutobi thought, feeling a case of déjà vu. "I already heard. He's found it, correct?"

"Wha-?" Iruka looked confused for a minute before continuing. "Uh, yes, but, that's not all of it."

"_Not again…" _Sarutobi sighed; definitely déjà vu. "What happened?"

"Well, when he first came in with Arashi-the Riolu's name-, everyone seemed to look at him. It didn't seem serious during class, but during recess, a student, Inuzuka Kiba was injured."

Sarutobi's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"From what the students told me, Kiba talked to Naruto and insulted Arashi, getting Naruto mad. They fought, and Kiba was winning, when out of the blue, the Riolu assaulted Kiba and punched him into a tree. He's currently at the hospital, suffering from a half-damaged rib cage, bruised cranium, broken left arm AND leg, and bent spine. The doctors say he would likely be staying there for 2-3 weeks at best! It's a miracle he's even alive at all, or even surprising how much damage the Riolu did!"

The Sandaime was very surprised by this turn of events. He knew it would only be sooner or later that Naruto would react from his treatment, but to have a Riolu to retaliate and injure another student? Their emotions were more sensitive than the Hokage realized.

"Where is Naruto now?" He asked.

Iruka shook his head. "No clue. I checked all his usual places; his apartment, Ichiraku, even the Hokage Monument! I don't know where he is now."

"I see," Sarutobi sighed, heading back to his office. He would have to talk to Naruto about this, another day. For the mean time, he could use a break from the normal paperwork, and decided to detour away from his office. Perhaps a walk around the village would suffice...

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was seen walking down the road to her flower shop. She was just as surprised and shocked by Naruto's pet thing as rest of the class. It looked harmless enough, but she could swear she heard the sound of bones cracking when it assaulted Kiba like that, and it looked completely feral at the time. That was no normal dog.

Hell, never once in her life had she heard a dog say _Rio _as a form of speaking;_ Ruff, Arf, _and _Bark, _yes, but never _Rio. _It was no Inuzuka dog either or any other clan dog. Usually Inuzuka dogs aren't very different in breeds and looked alike, but from its unusual body to its dual set of ears, it looked more like a raccoon dog than anything else.

And raccoon dogs aren't normally aggressive either; they're mostly cowards and would hide or play dead to protect themselves from predators. But then again, Naruto was that, uh, Arashi's, caretaker, and it must have fought Kiba as a short of way to protect him. Shikamaru use to do the same thing for Chouji until everyone thought it was 'troublesome' to get the lazy boy ticked off.

'_Naruto's kinda lucky…to have such a protective raccoon dog…'_ She didn't know what would happen if it stepped up to fight Kiba then. But with such raw power…it made her worry if it would actually hospitalize Sasuke too…

'_What am I talking about?! Sasuke-kun is the best student in class! There's no way he can be beaten by that raccoon dog.' _While she wanted to believe what she was thinking, it actually seemed very possible. Even Sasuke isn't that fast or strong. Ino shook her head to get rid of such negative thoughts. Sasuke's better than Arashi and that's that…right?

She was coming around the corner with her flower shop just at the side and walked in. She quickly passed through and went out the back door. With her father out on a mission and her mother running errands, her house was 'partially' free again. She would rather spend time with Sasuke and try to get him to cave in and go with her on a date, but he managed to slip away to his home before she, Sakura, or the rest of the fan-girl club noticed. Besides, she needed to talk to someone about this who wouldn't gossip or isn't a biased fan of all this.

She went to see her grandmother.

* * *

"What's wrong, lad? You seem upset."

Naruto was working on the berry orchard for the past two hours, his mind a complete mess. He appreciated Azami's concern, but he had a hard time believing Arashi acting the way he did, like a stray killer dog with rabies. Arashi, meanwhile, was quietly eating berries, being sure not to eat some of the rarer ones. He too, felt emotionally distant.

"I don't really know." He said finally. "I mean, I don't know what to feel. Arashi acted so beastly earlier, and-"

"What do you mean by that?" Azami interrupted gently.

"Oh, well, Arashi and I were minding our own business and Kiba just makes fun of Arashi because of my bad reputation. That is, being the worst in the class. I got mad, we fought, I was losing, and then…"

The old woman nodded. "That's when Arashi went 'beastly', isn't it?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded as well. "It was amazing and frightening at the same time; he suddenly beat Kiba, but…he acted completely different when he did, and he almost killed him. I…never felt something like this before…"

"Hmm…well, Arashi probably acted the way he did to protect you."

Naruto's eyes widen with realization. "You think?"

"Of course," said Azami. "He was probably mad that you were hurt and wanted to stop the fighting, but things got out of hand. It's likely to be an infant so it may take this situation differently or possibly forget it."

"He doesn't seem that young to me." said Naruto. Sure, Arashi hatched only yesterday, but the way it acted and walked spoke very differently. It's probably…2 years old in Rioru years.

"Just to remember to apologize to the boy later," Azami reminded, not seeming to notice Naruto's eyes turned comically white.

"WHY SHOULD I?!" He yelled. "THAT BASTARD GOT WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM FOR MAKING FUN OF ARASHI!!"

Azami didn't even flinch at the outburst, though he really is as loud as they say. He could destroy what's left of her ear drums. "I'm aware, but don't you feel responsible for Arashi's actions against him?"

Naruto lowered his head, knowing it was true.

"It's better to live and forget rather than still get mad over the past." She said sagely. "It's not worth the time or effort, you would find yourself very depressed and alone in the end. Trust me; you'll live to regret it when you would hold on to a petty argument and lost a valuable friend in the process. That's what happened to my granddaughter after all and while she doesn't want to admit it, she's very upset about it."

Naruto said nothing, but knew what the woman was saying was right. As much as he hated Kiba, he would apologize and try to work things out. The Rioru stared him at a distance, and they exchanged glances, and smiled at one another. He was still the cute, sweet-tooth munching dog he met, and nothing would change that. "Thank obaasan." he smiled to Azami.

She smiled back. "Anytime, lad."

"Grandmaaaaa!" a sudden familiar feminine voice broke through the silent clearing and a sound of rustling leaves was heard.

"I have something I wanna talk-" Ino walked midway into the clearing before freezing at the sight of another blonde in the clearing.

3…2…1…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Both blondes shouted, pointing at the other.

"Hmm? You know my granddaughter?" asked Azami, uneffected by their sudden yell. The birds however, were, and flew away squawking. Arashi, as well, was dizzy and had fallen on the ground, twitching, just trying to cover his poor eardrums. Sometimes it didn't pay to have 4 ears.

"GRANDDAUGHTER?!" Naruto shouted again, completely shock that they were related.

"You know him?!" Ino asked at the same time, a bit calmer. "Why is here, anyway?!"

Yamanaka Azami chuckled. "This young man, for whatever reason, somehow found out the berry orchard on his own and ate the berries on display." she explained. "But, he apologized and was even willing to help around the orchard. I really don't mind another hand around here, since you or your parents are rarely around. So, he decided to come over everyday to help me with this hard daily routine I go through, since he and Arashi seem to enjoy it so well."

"_EECLP,"_ the unexpected burp sounding noise came from the Riolu, who seems to be recovering from his little seizure.

Ino was fuming mad; she didn't expect Naruto, of all people, to come to the secret Yamanaka berry orchard and for her grandmother to actually be willing to let him in. It's supposed to be a sacred family thing, not open for jobs! Then again, she was right about never having help, and she was partly at fault for always following Sasuke, but still…

"I still don't see why he has to be here," she said. "He'll just kill the plants before they'll fully grow."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, not caring she is related to this nice old lady. "You haven't even seen what kind of gardening I can do! You're probably worse at it then me!"

"WHAT?!" She screeched, obviously offended. "You take that back!"

"Make me," Naruto taunted.

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"FINE!" Both shouted, glaring daggers at one another, before they broke out, grunted, and walked to opposite ends of the orchard. Arashi woke up from his dizzy state some time during the argument and stared at them as they walked off before rushing to Naruto. Neither took notice that their argument made no sense, probably because they didn't want to hear the other again.

'_Something tells me those two are going to get along just fine,' _Azami thought with a smile.

* * *

An hour had passed since Ino had arrived, and the children seemed to be in content with each other co-existing in the same clearing, but not enough to actually talk to one another. At least, at first…

Ino noticed that Naruto was doing a lot of things wrong, and would often point them out to him, only to lead to another mini-argument, which consisted of comparing what they were doing, why its wrong, and trying to get him to do it right, where he would just brush it off and try to do things his way still. This went on for about five times already.

But after the first hour, the two of them seemed to calm down and Naruto would take some of Ino's advice, noting how easier it is, such as when watering a plant you count to 7, when adding fertilizer to an already planted seed you dig around the plant as to not suddenly pull it out, and when planting a berry, you only dig two shovel scoops of dirt before planting it in and covering it in dirt. Ino herself almost forgot that she wanted to talk to her grandmother until Azami asked her.

"So, Ino-chan," she said. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"That raccoon dog," Ino started, trying to recollect her feelings earlier. "It suddenly got all mad and-"

"Attacked one of your classmates, didn't he?" Azami interrupted.

Ino gasped. "You know?"

"The young man told me about it shortly before you came along, and he felt the same way."

Ino's eyes widened. Naruto was actually as scared as everyone else? She was only aware how upset he was before the dog attacked. After that, he just picked him up and walked off.

"Arashi has the potential of giving the boy a bright future, yet he is unaware of it. He reacted the way he did because he only wanted to protect him from harm, but couldn't make the situation much less serious."

"You're telling me! That thing acted like a monster!" Ino shouted.

"_His _name is Arashi, not thing." Azami reminded her in her normal nice tone. "And how _he _acts reflects on how the young man is treated. I wouldn't be surprised that it would come after you if you met the same requirements like your friend Kiba. Don't worry, neither of them don't mean any harm, and I'm sure you'll get along great with them."

Ino knew that much; Naruto may be a loud, class-skipping prankster who tries to ask Sakura out a lot, but he also tried to make friends once, only to have the parents carry them away and telling them he was a nuisance. She knew; she and Sakura were few of those people. Yet her grandmother didn't see Naruto like that, and it couldn't be because of Arashi; or was it? Naruto said he found him, but it could mean that he had Arashi for a long time before the academy and people hated him because of the raccoon dog. In a way, that made sense.

Naruto and Arashi were seen by a blooming Leppa tree; Naruto was watering it while Arashi leaned against it eating Oran berries. Just yesterday the former was a bumbling idiot pulling pranks and he seemed to change so quickly ever since he found that dog. Maybe the life of parenthood has that effect on people? He always grew up on his own after all.

Maybe he had no idea how to react to this at all…

* * *

Little did she knew, Ino was right; Naruto had just got Arashi yesterday and didn't even know he was keeping him throughout all this. He seemed all attracted to the Rioru as he was to him. Maybe because he reminded him so much of himself when he was younger…

Back at the orphanage, he didn't know how or why, but he could tell he was being treated unfair. At first, he would complain as to why some people got more treatment than him, such as more food and more clothes, as all youngsters would do. But then the adults would glare at him immediately and scare him so much he stopped. He thought maybe they didn't give him attention because he complained a lot, so he stopped complaining.

That didn't work either; in fact it was worse. He was ignored more and eventually the people forgot his name entirely. He would have forgotten it too, but didn't. He name was the only thing at the time he had precious to him, and he wouldn't lose it.

Naruto couldn't make friends for one reason or another; the caretakers would take them away and somehow convince them not to be near him anymore. It got so depressing that he sometimes cried to sleep until one night, when he was dreaming, he met a fox who suddenly yelled at him:

"**SHUT UP! YOU THINK CRYING WILL SOLVE EVERYTHING?! THAT'S THE KIND OF SHIT ONLY COWARDS WOULD DO!"**

How that happened, he may never know, but in the end, what the fox said was right. Even if no one could support him, he would somehow persevere, and become someone they could count on; a ninja, maybe a Hokage even.

But here Arashi was put into the same situation he was; different. People gave him more stares than usual, or rather at Arashi, because he had to admit, he was weird looking. Arashi seemed to be very emotional and let his feelings out so much, more than he did anyway. If he was left alone, the situation would be worse than it was for him.

He may never admit it, but he hated the way Konoha raised him; ignored him, treated him like dirt, thought he was some monster. He couldn't hold it against _everyone _in the village, but overall he wished things wouldn't have been so hard for his first few years. He didn't want anyone else to go through that same life he did.

He won't let Arashi be treated like that.

"Hey," he was so caught in his thoughts that he didn't notice that Ino was right behind him. "You're watering that too much."

"Huh?" Naruto noticed that there was a small puddle under the tree and quickly stopped.

"Plants tend to drown if you water them like that," she chided.

"Yeah, yeah," said Naruto, annoyed.

The two of them said nothing afterwards, and Naruto assumed the blonde girl left, until she spoke again.

"What does he like?"

"What?" he said.

"What kind of berries does Arashi like?"

Naruto glanced at her. He didn't expect her to actually remember Arashi's name. He glanced at him, who was still eating some Oran berries, not noticing the attention or giving them any mind that he noticed.

"Mago, Pecha, anything sweet. He hates Chesto though. And Ramen."

Ino ignored the last comment with a roll of the eyes. "Likes sweet and hates dry…must be a very happy little guy."

Naruto was confused now. "What do you mean?"

"My grandma told me once, that when Poke'mon were common around here, that what kind of berries reflect what their natures are. Since he likes sweet and hates dry, he has a jolly nature or something like that."

"'When Poke'mon were common'?" he repeated.

"_Lu?" _said Arashi, equally interested.

Ino nodded. "It was before the Kyuubi invasion, but my grandma said this place was always full of unique creatures that would come here and eat the berries around here. But now…no one comes here."

"Oh…" said Naruto, exchanging glances with Arashi. "Then, why does obaa-chan work so hard on-OW!"

"HEY!" Ino yelled, just whacking Naruto's head. "That's my grandmother you're talking about!"

"Uh, sorry…" He said, rubbing his head. Ino sighed.

"This isn't just a gathering place for Poke'mon that use to come here but didn't. The berries here are usually grinded up into special perfumes we use at our flower shop."

"Really?"

"Of course!" She smirked. "It's the secret to why our flower shop is so popular!" She then glared darkly at Naruto. "And if you tell_anyone _about this, it'll be the last thing you'll ever do."

Naruto and Arashi slowly nodded, intimidated by her killer intent, which to Naruto, feels very similar to Sakura's.

* * *

It was about sunset when Azami called it a day, thanking the blondes and Arashi for the assistance.

"Don't forget now, lad," She said to Naruto. "That you have to apologize to your classmate about earlier."

"I won't obaasan." He said, Arashi leaning over his shoulder again. "I'll do it tomorrow."

"Why wait?" Ino asked.

"Well, the hospital is pretty far from here and it's almost dinner time-"

"The hospital doesn't close until 8 and you have plenty of time to get there and back to any meal you have. Besides, Kiba's very stubborn and if you don't try to make it up today he'll think you really did mean it."

"But what's the harm in waiting a day?" Naruto asked, suddenly noticed how angry Ino was getting.

"YOU'RE GOING TO THAT HOSPITAL AND SAY YOUR SORRY RIGHT NOW!"

"WAAAAAH! OK, OK! I'll go!" Naruto screamed, feeling déjà vu from whenever he got Sakura mad. Suddenly, that crazy hermit and his big dog don't seem as scary as Ino (or Sakura) right about now. Fearing for the same effect that she gave off from those two, he ran off with Arashi clinging onto him for dear life.

"Thanks for the talk, grandma!" Ino said sweetly and bowed before chasing after the other blonde. Once they were both gone, Azami chuckled to herself.

"Ah yes, those two are going to get along just fine…"

* * *

"_You can't leave now! What about your son? Our son?! You promised to retire!"_

"_I wish that's the case, but as long as we live in a ninja live, even for one as peaceful as Konoha, that vision may never be possible. They're always will be conflicts and we'll always have to defend for our village."_

"_We have enough Shinobi who fight for our village! Why can't you take a break and do what you promise?!"_

"_The Hokage himself personally asked me to take this mission because I'm the only one who can possibly accomplish it. After I finish this, I'll be free for retirement."_

"_Don't act like this is nothing! This is an A-class mission with a risk of death! How can you be so sure you can finish this in one piece?!"_

"_Honey, you worry too much; I've done A-class missions like this all the time and had no problems before."_

"_There's a first time for everything you know."_

"_I'll be fine, don't worry. Expect me back by next week at best. Right, Tama?"_

"_Ruff!"_

"…_Please come back safe."_

"_I will, Tsune."_

'_That same dream again…' _Kiba found himself waking from that recurring dream and in a hospital room. His body was assorted in casts; he wore a neck brace, a tied up ice pack on his head, casts on his right arm and right leg, and his right chest was covered in body wrap. He almost forgot that it was Naruto's raccoon dog that did this to him.

'_Dammit, beaten by the dead-last's mutt; I must be the laughing stock of the academy.' _He bashed his left hand onto the nightstand next to his bed, only to scream in pain that it was still injured.

Soon after, knocking was heard at the door. Kiba didn't expect he would get visitors, but thought it would be his gang. "Come on in. The door is open, I guess." The door opened, and it wasn't his gang.

"Came back to rub it in, huh?" He glared at the blonde, whose dog was still leaning over on his shoulder. "I'm surprised they let pets in the hospital."

"They take care of pets here, so what's keeping them from being here?" said Naruto.

Kiba huffed. If Naruto was going to gloat, he would rather have him get it out of his system and take it like a man. "Whatever. Get it over with."

"I'm sorry."

Kiba's eyes widened and stared at Naruto like he grown an extra head. "…what?"

"I said I was sorry." said Naruto. "I'm sorry that Arashi hurt you, and he's sorry too. Right?"

"_Riiiii…" _the Riolu whined, nodding.

Kiba stared at them for a while, and just when Naruto was looking hopeful, he laughed. "You actually expect me to believe you came here to say sorry for beating me up?!"

"Are you going to accept my apology?" Naruto asked.

"Of course not!" Kiba yelled. "I'm not going to act like none of this ever happened because of an apology! One from a dead-last, no less! I still have my pride to keep!"

Naruto glared back at Kiba, trying his hard to be nice about this, but if this was how the dog boy would act to him, well forget it. It wasn't worth it. He was on his way of walking out when Ino walked up to Kiba and glared at him.

"I didn't waste my free time to get this over with for you to act like a sore loser." she chided.

"Nobody wanted you to come anyway, girl." he shot back, getting mad. Without warning, Ino walked over to Kiba's injured leg and promptly sat on it. Kiba's eyes immediately bulged out of their sockets, feeling the rush of Ino's lower weight.

"AAAAAAAAAAHH! OH GOD! OH-OH GOD! THE PAIN! THE UNHEALED PAIN! GET YOUR BIG ASS OFF MY ARM WOM-OOOOOH GOOOOOD!!"

"SAY IT!" Ino yelled as she sat down harder.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! SON OF A-ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT! I'M SORRY I ACTED LIKE A JERK! I ACCEPT! YOU HEAR ME?! ACCEPTANCE! ACCEPTAAAANCE!!"

Satisfied, Ino got up from her position and Kiba felt weightless relief, but was whimpering feeling that the wound might have opened more. Ino left the room smiling as Naruto and Arashi stared between the two wide eyed.

"You ok?" Naruto asked finally.

"Just leave…I'm done with pain for today…" Kiba wheezed, and Naruto left.

* * *

Shortly after Naruto and Arashi said goodnight to Ino, the two of them left to take a little tour of the village; starting with the ramen stand Ichiraku.

"Oi, old man! A bowl of miso stew please!"

"Coming right u-" That was as much as Ichiraku Teuchi could say before noticed Arashi sitting next to his favorite customer. He reacted quite surprised, which wasn't new to the two, but then he asked, "Who's your friend?"

Naruto smiled; he knew he could trust the ramen chef. "His name's Arashi. I found him yesterday."

"Arashi, huh?" The chef's daughter, Ayame, called over from the kitchen. "That's a nice name. Is he your new pet?"

"Uh well, I never really bought him; I found him." Naruto explained.

"From what?"

"An egg." Both ramen chefs glanced at him with the expression that he had grown another head.

"A yellow raccoon dog came from an egg? I know that chickens and lizards are born from eggs, but…"

"I'm serious!" Naruto interrupted the elder chef. "I found his egg by that old Inuzuka hermit's trash and-"

Ayame gasped. "You stole from someone else's lawn?! That is so unlike you, Naruto-kun!"

Teuchi laughed. "Well, you know what they say; 'One man's trash is another man's treasure.' Especially if it's from someone like ol' Takeo, right?"

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded.

"_Ri!" _Arashi chorused. They then exchanged glances, surprised that Teuchi would know who he was talking about. Glancing back to the head chief, he smiled and winked.

"Well, I guess that's one mystery solved." The four of them were so involved in their conversation that they didn't notice another customer walk in. He looked much like a beggar, with mostly an oversized cloth covering a majority of his body. His face was also disguised under the top, but it was still visible and recognizable.

"Ojisan!"

"H-hokage-sama!"

"Shhh!" Sandaime waved his arms a bit, looking around worried. "I'm not really here. I can't be seen out here!"

"Then why _are _you here? And why do you look like a beggar?" Naruto asked, at which the Hokage smiled.

"If I came out in the open, ANBU officers would be following me all over the village. I rather not have them worried and enjoy a break once in a while."

"So, what you will you have?" The head chef asked.

"Oh, one with veggies would do."

"On it!" Ayame called from the back. The 3rd sat by Naruto, where he took a good look of Arashi. It indeed looked similar to a Riolu in everyway, save for its different fur color. He had before that some Poke'mon had sometimes had a brighter set of alternative colors, which was a very rare occurrence; possible, but rare.

'_The chances of Naruto to find a yellow Riolu egg, let alone any egg, are so high. Even more so that he found it before the rest of us. Then again, he said he found it by Takeo's trash, and nobody has ever looked around his lawn before being threatened. Not even the ANBU are insane enough to stay long enough to deal with Inju-chan…'_

"So, ojisan," Naruto asked, breaking Sarutobi's train of thought. "Are you out here because of all the paperwork?"

"Partly," He said. "I've heard that you've made a new friend…and that one of your students is hospitalized because of it."

Naruto gulped, and even Arashi looked worried. Naruto hoped that news wouldn't get to the Hokage, but deep down, he knew one way or another it would.

"Really, now?" Teuchi raised an eyebrow.

"I'm really sorry, ojisan!" Naruto pleaded. "I didn't mean Kiba to get beaten up _that _bad…but he kinda deserved it."

"Naruto-kun!" Ayame scolded from behind the counter. This was all so unlike him.

"He made fun of Arashi!"

There was a brief silence Naruto's outburst, until he said, "I'm not going to let someone live the same treatment I put up with."

All three of the listeners understood wholeheartedly Naruto's answer. It wasn't easy for Naruto growing up in a village that faced some tough times. With the losses from the last Great War, the Kyuubi attack, and just recently, the Uchiha massacre, the villagers would sometimes lend their outward anger and teasing towards him, seeing that in a way, he represented the tragedy of many lives. So little positive reassurance and help from others wasn't much, and if they weren't going through money problems, Teuchi and Ayame would have adopted Naruto right away.

Sarutobi smiled slightly._ 'He must think of Arashi as him when growing up,' _

"Well, I suppose no serious damage is done, and Kiba should be fine in a week or so. Just be sure not to have Arashi retaliate so much so often." he said.

"Right!" Naruto grinned.

"_Riolu!" _Arashi chorused. Sarutobi chuckled. The Riolu was just as enthusiastic as his owner. Which reminds him…

"Naruto, Arashi is your pet, right?" Sarutobi asked. Naruto gave him a questioning look.

"Isn't he a Poke'mon?"

Sandaime raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect Naruto to be familiar with the term. "Where did you learn that out?"

Naruto leaned down from his stool and picked up an old textbook he was given at school.

"I've read here in this book. I got it from the teachers when passing out the regular textbooks."

Sandaime took a long look at the book Naruto handed to him. His first thought was that it wasn't the right standard that students were given and made a note to talk about this to the school staff later. Then he recognized the eerie design and was dumbstruck.

"This book…"

"You know about it?" Naruto asked.

"Indeed." Sarutobi nodded, as he examined it closely. "This was written a long time ago, back around the time when Konoha was founded by the first two Hokages. Poke'mon were close cousins to other creatures in the world such as the regular dogs and birds, only with hardened sense of instinct and battle. They were very common around the village forest, as well as all over the world.

"The origin of this book, which explains nearly everything known about Poke'mon, was long lost. The Hokages before me said they bought this from a traveling merchant who wrote it himself. This was assumed to be destroyed during the Kyuubi attack nearly 10 years ago."

"Wow," said Naruto. He knew it was a rare book and all, but he didn't expect that much. He barely noticed the 3rd handing him back the book.

"Take it. You'll probably have more use for it than I will."

Naruto accepted it, but quickly scowled with a scrunched up face. "You mean I have to read the whole thing?" Sarutobi couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Anyway, as I was saying before, Arashi is yours, correct?"

Naruto exchanged glances with the Riolu next to him for a while, before turning to the elder Hokage. "Can I?"

"Why, of course," Sarutobi smiled. "I'll make the arrangements later tonight, and you'll be Arashi's new owner."

"YAAAY!"

"_RIIII!"_

Both of them cheered and hugged one another, and the moment quickly passed as Ayame brought them their food.

"Itadakimasu." The two human customers said, as they started to eat the freshly cooked ramen, until Naruto noticed something different.

"Arashi! You're eating ramen too?!" Indeed, the little yellow raccoon dog was merrily eating from a _third _bowl of ramen. But they only ordered two.

"I thought the little guy would be hungry if he was left out," Ayame explained. "So I made him another on the house."

"But Arashi hates ramen!" Almost as soon as Naruto said those words, Arashi's face scrunched up, eyes wide, obviously the same reaction from yesterday when he tried Naruto's instant ramen. He then turned and spat the broth and noodles out to his left, towards Naruto, but he caught on quick and ducked at the last minute. However, the Hokage couldn't predict some a quick turn of events and was much less fortunate.

And the scream of the Sandaime Hokage was heard all over the village, confusing all as to what just happened.

* * *

"Hey it's ok Arashi. We all make mistakes."

"_Oluuuu…"_

Naruto and Arashi left the scene shortly after apologizing to Sarutobi, whose face was quite stained with hot broth, noodles and vegetables from Arashi's bowl. Ayame was very embarrassed and pleaded the Hokage would forgive herself for such an accident, and he accepted. What made the scene more ridiculous was him being seen taken away by the ANBU who heard his scream, and were edgy about who made his face red. Sarutobi lied and said he accidentally spilled hot water on himself, much to Naruto and Ayame's relief.

Shortly after making a few blocks to their next destination, Naruto started to feel a weird presence around. It was like a few weeks after being in the academy. It was like someone was stalking him yet he can never find out who. Whenever he tried calling out, chasing, or even trying to corner out the guy, he would just run off. It still bothered him why he didn't know who was stalking him to this day. It could be Sasuke, since he always likes to be the center of attention and is the only one better than him at stealth. Sure, he may be a little dense and not wearing the suitable clothing for sneaking, but he still was able to outwit experienced Jounin time and time again with hit-and-run pranks. That is, until he was caught later on…

Arashi seemed aware of this stalker too, since he was sniffing a lot behind them. Naruto had to know who this stalker was, and with Arashi's help, he might just do it.

They made a turn at the next corner, where Naruto dropped Arashi at a nearby stoop and continued walking. The Riolu climbed up the roof and waited for the stalker. Ten steps Naruto took. Now 15, 20…

Finally, the stalker came around the corner, and Arashi sprang at the target. He could hear an 'eep' as the stalker tried to defend himself but the raccoon dog was quick. He landed on his back and started to pull on his blue hair, noting how the person was screaming. Naruto smirked as he walked triumphantly at the poor stalkers suspense.

"Ha! You may think you can outrun or hide from me, but you can't! I'm going to be the next Hokage someday, and I'm not going to take shit from anyone! Not even you-"

Naruto soon got a closer look at his stalker, and it wasn't what he expected. For one, he was a _she. _She had white eyes with no pupils so she was either blind or, most likely, a Hyuuga. His eyes widened with realization of the quietest girl in the academy.

"-Hinata?"

He was intentionally going to say 'Sasuke', but he was so surprised by her identity as his stalker that he forgot all about his pride in thinking he finally revealed Sasuke for the stalker that he is. Even Arashi stopped harassing her when he noticed how awkward the scene was and leaped onto Naruto's shoulder.

"Uh…nice evening, isn't it?" Naruto tried to open small talk with her.

"Y-y-yes…" She said, in her small, meek and shy voice. She was starting to feel very red that Naruto found out she was stalk-erm, following him, and just wanted to disappear.

"So…were you stalk-uh, I mean, following us?"

"I-I'm really s-sorry! I sh-should be going now!" Hinata was turning to run off, but stopped when Naruto grabbed her arm. She was starting to feel _very _lightheaded being so close to Naruto, whom she admired for so long.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" said Naruto. "I'm just saying you're very good at it! I've never seen you that sneaky back at the academy."

"Th-that's mostly because y-you never notice me m-much." Hinata mumbled. Naruto did admit, she was always appearing when he would least expect her. Guess that proves the whole stalking theory.

"Well, you're great at it!" Naruto grinned. Hinata stared at him wide-eyed.

"St-st-stalking?" Hinata nearly choked saying the word. When is stalking ever a _good _thing? It creeps some people out knowing their being followed by someone they rarely know and this is no different!

Naruto smiled. "Yeah! I mean, I couldn't tell that you were doing it, so you must be really good to fool me! I almost thought you were Sasuke!" True, he was one of the least stealth-oriented ninja around, but neither of the two wanted to admit it out loud. The fact that she could be compared to Sasuke, well, she couldn't tell really whether to feel pleased to be thought as good, or down to be reminded she wasn't as strong.

"But…why were you following me anyway?"

Hinata eyes widened as she tried to hide her red face. It was just too embarrassing to actually tell him he was following him for the past decade. She always admired him, but only at a distance; not openly like Sasuke's fan-girls and how they always ask him on dates; they were proud and confident, she was humble and quiet. Of course, this may refer to only tonight, and she was trying to convince herself to come up and talk to him.

"I…I wanted to…make sure…to make sure, you feeling alright."

Naruto exchanged confused glances with Arashi before looking at Hinata again. "What do you mean?"

Hinata clasped her hands together and held them close to her body. "Well, you, and Arashi-chan, looked very sad, and I know it wasn't your fault…to begin with. I…wanted to remind you that you weren't at fault. And… I'm sure that Kiba didn't mean what he said earlier."

Naruto was very surprised. He didn't expect anyone to just come up and comfort him through this whole thing, especially not Hinata. She was the 'last' person he'd expect to do something for him, since she always looked the other way and looked like she was having some fever. He always wondered if she was allergic to him or something, but also wondered why she still tried to get near him if it made her nervous.

Still, it relieved him greatly to hear that. First Ino in some odd way, and now Hinata have come into good terms with him. Perhaps Arashi was like some good-luck charm? "Thanks Hinata, I really appreciate it."

Hinata, too, felt a lot of relief for telling him that. She was happy to know that for a moment, just _one_ moment, she could help him feel better about himself. "Y-your welcome." She bowed, quickly, and was just about ready to leave when Naruto said something.

"Oh, and make sure you keep practicing that stalking thing! You might make a great Kunoichi someday!"

Hinata's heart skipped a beat. It wasn't so much as he implied it as stalking, but something entirely different. Naruto, the boy she idolized, for always looking on the brighter side of things when they seemed their darkest, was _praising her _and said she would make a _great _Kunoichi. She never had such high praise before; not even from her own family.

Naruto, meanwhile, was noticing how quieter Hinata had gotten. All she was doing was just staring at the ground. He was a little worried if she passed out or fell asleep standing, or whatever. She had a habit to do weird things around him. "Hinata? Are you ok? You looked spaced out."

Before he knew what happened, she suddenly launched herself towards him and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, Naruto-kun!"

It took several moments before Hinata realized what exactly she was doing and quickly broke their short embrace, feeling more embarrassed than earlier. "Uh…s-sorry. G-goodnight!" She quickly bowed and ran for her home, leaving a confused, dumbstruck Naruto and his equally confused Riolu. He didn't move at all during and after the hug, trying to process what happened.

"Arashi," He asked, after several minutes, not even turning to his little raccoon dog. "What the hell just happened?"

"_Riolu." _Arashi shrugged, which could loosely translate into _"I don't know."_

"Ah, whatever, it's probably a girl thing." He also shrugged, though he was quite disappointed it wasn't Sakura hugging him. Then again, Hinata's hug wasn't entirely bad either…

"Anyway Arashi, I want to show you the most awesome thing this village has to offer."

"_Rio?"_

* * *

"Here we are!"

After a long mountain hike, which night has since long past during their trip, the two found themselves atop the Yondaime's head on the Hokage's mountain. It is an historical landmark that has the faces of all the Hokages carved onto it to forever remember the accomplishments and achievements they've made for the village.

"This is one of my favorite hangouts to go to." Naruto explained. "The view's pretty awesome, isn't it?"

"_RIIIIIIIIIILO!" _Arashi cheered looking at the village in awe. It was an amazing sight. The sky maybe pitch black, but the village still looked amazing after hours, with vague lights glowing all over the place, shining in even the far corners of the village. It's bright enough to see every outline of Konoha, but not bright enough to make it hard to see the stars high above; truly a sight to behold.

Naruto smiled. "It's moments like this that make me think how amazing this village is." He sat down next to the Riolu who continued to stare at the village. "Everyone remembers who the Hokages are, even when they aren't around for the first few. I don't want to be forgotten like someone who doesn't matter. I want to be known as someone who _does_ matter, someone who's strong and appreciated in this village."

Arashi glanced up at Naruto, noticing how solemn he looked staring at the village. He sounds so determined.

"I know that someday, I'm going to be Hokage too." He continued. "Maybe not the 5th, or the 6th, or even the 7th, but I will be Hokage someday. I don't care what anyone else says, because even if they were Hokages, they all started as nothing. I know I can make myself something worth remembering too!"

Filled with enthusiasm, he stood up and held out a fist. "I'll be Hokage of this village someday!"

Arashi stood up as well and raised his paw up. _"Rioru!" _He would make sure his master would make it to the top.

* * *

A/N: Well, there's another chapter. Sorry for the long delay, but you can't always count on someone to update on a dime you know.

Thanks for all the reviewers out there. I'm glad that they're people who enjoy this story and I'll try to continue to write this story. Just don't guarantee it be up all the time.

Also, this story has no solid pairing yet, so don't assume its NaruIno or NaruHina or anything. I just wrote those scenes to give character development between them. Besides, they aren't even 13 yet. On a side note, hope I didn't make that Hinata scene too cheesy or something. I would expect she might hug Naruto on impulse from his praise, nothing more.

And my hypothesis has been confirmed; from the source of both Wikipedia and the most recent Naruto chapter (#367), the Yondaime's name is actually **Namikaze Minato**; not **Kazama Arashi**. Seriously though, where did that random name come from? Everyone here just assumed it was Arashi and went with it. Ah well, what's said is done. The Riolu's name will still be Arashi, since in a way, it's a cool name. Besides, we can all just say that he used that as a cover name, right?

EDIT: Arashi now has an excuse to have the name besides the fake namesake of the 4th Hokage. I'm very sorry to all those who have been waiting a LONG time to see my next chapter. I'll be sure to put it up very soon, I assure you. Also, I changed the title from "A Semi Normal Day" to "Making Amends", because the first one didn't make sense. This one, however, does.

Now for something I'm sure you'll find amusing. If not, I'm sorry.

* * *

Naruto and Arashi! Omake! #2

"Today's the day, Kakashi! I'll break our tie at 70 to 70!" Shouted a very enthusiastic jounin with the most weird bowl-shaped haircut and bushiest eyebrows you've ever seen. He may not seem threatening, but he's actually one of the top Taijutsu nin in Konoha.

"I doubt that, Gai." the silver haired jounin said, being the bored one of the pair. He was very tempted to dig into his pocket and pull out the latest issue of Ichi Ichi Paradise he bought today.

"Indeed!" The one named Gai shouted again. "Not even your Sharingan eye can catch up with me; IN CAPTURE THE FLAG!!"

The two of them were seen the Team 7 training area, standing at opposite ends trying to get each others flag. Normally this would be played as a team, but since Kakashi has Shadow Clones and Gai has his speed and strength, it's all about who can outrun or outwit who to get the flag on the other side. So far they've been repelling each others attacks at each attempt trying to get one's flag, only to get 'tagged' (meaning being tackled down or punched and/or kicked REAL hard) and get back to their side. Now they're going through a stare-down. So far ten minutes have passed. Now 20…

'_I've got to get Kakashi's flag! I'll make a simple clone jutsu, shuffle around, and have both of them run at both sides. Even with Kakashi's Shadow Clones, he can't keep up with my speed.' _Satisfied with his plan, Gai prepared for the jutsu, but then the weirdest thing happened.

"GAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!"

A sudden scream of pain echoed throughout the clearing, scaring off the nearby birds and stunning both Jounin as they looked beyond Gai, where the general direction of the sound came from.

"What the hell was that?" said Kakashi.

"I don't know!" said Gai. "Maybe someone in trouble? We have to go help!"

"Ok, just one thing," Kakashi said. He walked up to Gai and handed him a yellow flag. "I win."

Gai stared at the yellow flag, glanced at his blank flagless side, and then glanced at Kakashi's side. His red flag was just right were it was left; surrounded by various kunai and shuriken thrown by him. He was so engrossed at his lost that he didn't notice Kakashi leaving the scene and towards the distress scream.

"So now its 70 wins and 71 losses…" Gai said, deflated. That moment didn't last long as Gai regained his composure, with much-a-gusto.

"I'LL SHOW HIM YET! I'VE WON 70 TIMES BEFORE AND I CAN BEAT HIM 70 TIMES AGAIN! OR MY NAME ISN'T MAITO GAI!" He gave a good-guy posture to the closest creature at the scene, which happened to be a duck. It quickly swam away in what seemed to be of either fear or embarrassment. Not taking much note of it, Gai left the clearing in stride to follow his eternal rival.


	4. Life of a Parent

AN: Sorry about being late, but you can never expect someone to update these stories daily. Usually they either have a lot of free time on their hands or turn out to be rushed, sloppy and overall bad. I don't spend a good portion of time on this, and I don't want sloppiness to happen to my story, so I'm sorry. And I promise things will move along very soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Pokemon. This is merely a made up story to entertain myself, and hopefully, people of both fandoms. Enjoy.

"That's the biggest damn egg I've ever seen!" Normal speech

'_Must be some sort of super dog.'_ Normal thoughts

"_Riiiiii-o?" _Pokemon speak

"_Expect me back by next week at best"_ Flashback/Dream

"**Insolent whelp…" **Demon Speak

"_**BOOYA!" **_Inner Sakura Speak/Demon thoughts

Naruto & Arashi

Chapter 4: Life of a Parent

"Ino! Hurry up or we're going to be late!"

"I know, I know! Geez, give a girl more time to prepare, ok?"

Before he met Arashi, Uzumaki Naruto's schedule was a simple one; Wake up for breakfast, go to the academy, train, eat at Ichiraku's, go to bed. Usually on weekends, the time for the academy would just be used for more time to train.

Ever since he met Arashi almost a year ago, Naruto's schedule was far from simple; every morning he would make breakfast for him AND the baby Riolu, making sure he gets something sweet and anything not dry or is ramen. The bottle thing was also a must. He would then head towards Azami's place first and drop him off to help with the berries while he was away. By the end of the school time, he would catch a quick meal at Ichiraku's then go back to Azami's. Or vise-versa, now that the Ramen stand serves fruit and veggie salads (more so for Arashi than other customers, but it's a new menu item).

Naruto decided to keep Arashi with the old Yamanaka because, in all honesty, he didn't know who else to trust. She was the first person who seemed perfectly ok with Arashi and didn't act all hostile to him either. It was odd to finally find someone who accepted him, but it felt good nonetheless.

He (somehow) also made a good friend in Ino. Sure, they both had their arguments and times when they try to overcome one another, and she was STILL a Sasuke fangirl, but they still enjoy the time they spend whenever they walk to the academy, talking of whatever comes to mind.

"Ready!" She said, just rushing out the door of her shop.

Naruto, waiting in front, groaned, and started walking. "Took you long enough. I didn't want to get late because you had to iron your hair!"

"Hey! You try growing long, beautiful hair and see just how hard it is to get it washed, combed, and in a ponytail!"

The blonde boy scrunched his face in disgust. "If it takes so long with that much hair, why don't you just cut it? I mean, it's longer than most girls; hell, _people, _I know!"

Ino huffed. "As if! Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair and the longer it is, the better!"

"And yet he still ignores you." Naruto mumbled, but it didn't go unheard of as Ino clunked him on the cranium, wincing in pain.

His relationship with Ino wasn't exactly the same as Sakura's. He used to be swayed by Sakura's cute face and pink hair and wanted to be friends with her. He quickly got the idea that if Sakura (and every other girl his age) would always ask Sasuke on dates, he should try the same thing for her. Needless to say, she was just as rude to him as Sasuke was to her. He still holds a little crush on her, but has been distant with her since being a legal guardian to Arashi took up a lot of his free time.

Ino was…different. When she wasn't talking to Sasuke or trying to ask him out on a date, she was normally helping out at her grandmother's orchard and giving Naruto gardening tips. He would never say it in front of her, but she had become a close friend to him, and he'd grown a sort of hobby to gardening, starting to water plants and planting seeds, instead of berries.

"Well, well, looks like the two 'blonde birds' are here as usual." came the smug comment from up ahead. Inuzuka Kiba was seen smirking at them, with Akamaru on top his head.

This rather bland insult didn't affect Naruto or Ino in the slightest; the former asked what loomed both their minds. "_Blonde birds_? Is that the best you can come up with?"

The feral kid shrugged, but didn't falter in the smirk. "Of course not. I don't have time to give you better insults."

"Nor do you have the time to bother us. Now get, doggy."

Kiba, now fully recovered, became somewhat of a rival to Naruto. He said their last match, which had him hospitalized, courtesy of Arashi, was nothing but a fluke and wanted to prove he was better than him. This surprised all the students. It was Arashi that beat him up, so shouldn't he be more ticked off at the dope's pet then the dope himself?

As if to prove that fact, Kiba stared at Naruto, who hadn't move since Kiba arrived. "Ok, Naruto, how's about we have ourselves a little spar before the academy starts?" He said as he started cracking his knuckles.

Naruto sighed. "I already told you Kiba. I neither have the time nor interest to fight you again. You got beaten by a Riolu. A baby one no less. Not me."

"But you were his owner! The Alpha-male! So that means I have the right to fight you as much as your pup!"

"Too bad I don't care. Besides, the academy starts in a few minutes. We can settle this some other time." With that said, he started to walk to Ino, who was patiently waiting.

Kiba scowled. "Hypocrite."

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. He hesitatively turned to Kiba and said "What?"

"You ask the same thing out of Sasuke and yet you turn down the same offer when given to you? That's basically going against what you've been trying to out of that guy for years!"

"Don't listen to him Naruto," Ino warned; she was having a bad feeling about this.

But deep down, Naruto felt that what Kiba said was true. He wanted acknowledgement all his life from the kid everyone loves and/or idolizes; Uchiha Sasuke. Perfect grades, perfect fighting style, and (to the female's opinion) perfect looks. He thought if he could surpass him in some way, he two would be idolized; which is why he constantly tried hard in the academy since he showed up and challenged him to a match.

Now Kiba, someone who was on the same boat, wants to challenge him like he would to Sasuke, when he would just go along with Naruto's demands just to make him feel better (before beating him up like just before his run-in with Arashi's paw). In a way, this was an improvement. Besides, he just insulted him turning down a match. He couldn't live that down. Well, maybe. It was just Kiba anyway.

"Heh, whatever," said Kiba, with still no change in emotion. "It's not like this kid's got guts anyway."

…Ok, there is NO way he could live this down.

"THE HELL I'LL RUN AWAY, DOG-BRAIN!" Naruto screeched as he jumped towards Kiba and held out his fist, trembling with righteous fury. Kiba actually looked surprised by his sudden attack, but he knew he had that coming, so with a smirk of victory, he quickly retaliated and the two of them were seen scuffling on the road, surrounded by dirt and debris.

Ino sweatdropped. _This is the third time this month those two fought like this…_ Basically, Kiba had been using the 'Hypocrite Speech' to get Naruto mad enough to fight back. If there's anything he hates more than being rejected by Sakura, it's being compared to Sasuke in a negative way.

"Naruto!" She called out, trying to reason with him. "What about the academy? We're going to be late!"

"Go on without me! It's going to be a while before I make this jerk taste his dog's poop!"

"HEY!"

"But you're already tardy five times this year! Iruka-sensei said you be severely punished if you're tardy again!"

"Like I care! I'll still be a graduate!"

"Not when I'm through with you, dead-last!"

"You're going to STAY dead-last if you keep picking stupid fights with Kiba and Sasuke-kun! Why did you even agree to this stupid fight when we have to get to class RIGHT NOW?!"

"It's all about pride, Ino! Pride is more important than being prompt!"

"Amen to that!"

Ino sighed and glanced away from the two of them fighting. It was obvious that the other blonde only cared about showing off to his opponents rather than be discreet like a REAL ninja. She could just get on ahead, but Naruto, although slow and loud, was still, in a sense, her friend, and she didn't want to see him upset when he failed. It was likely that he'll fail again, like the last two times, and be held back for another year. Or worse, loose the privilege of being a ninja.

So, she decided to wait until the two of them were tired and/or distracted before beating them up and dragging them to the academy. Of course, she wasn't very good in patience…

Just then, the punching and kicking halted, and two bodies collapsed on the ground. Ino turned to see Hinata, her usual timid self, standing over the two knocked out boys. She looked over them, ashamed of herself.

"I…used Jyuken…I didn't know what else…"

"It's ok." Ino smiled as she lifted the leap once known as Naruto over her shoulder. "At least sealing their chakra points will stop them fighting for a little while.

The Hyuuga's clan style of fighting, Jyuken, was made to aim and damage their foes chakra circulatory system. Everyone had pressure points which exhibit use of chakra, and hitting these points would stop the flow to the area. It merely took a simple tap at the spinal cord to have them collapse. Naruto and Kiba wouldn't die, but they'll be feeling a lot of back pain when they would wake up.

"That was pretty good back there too." Ino continued, walking to the academy with Hinata on toll. "Only one hit each. If you try hard enough, you might promote way past Genin in no time."

"I-I don't know." Hinata said while carefully carrying Kiba bridal style. "M-my family doesn't h-have many expectations for me, e-especially my cousin."

"Yeah, I heard, your family is a bunch of stuck-ups who aren't impressed with you, but that doesn't stop Naruto in giving the benefit of the doubt, now does it?"

"I-I guess so…" Hinata nodded.

After the little heart-to-heart the night of the Kiba Incident, Naruto decided to bring Hinata to the orchard with him, as a show of gratitude of the other day. When Ino found out about this, she was extremely peeved, though she didn't punish Naruto _too_ much because Hinata was normally quiet and agreed wholeheartedly not to speak to anyone else. Still, Naruto was forced to eat leftover Pinab berries against his will as Ino chunked them down his throat. The sour skin and spicy juice inside exploded in his taste buds, which was adopted with a comically ridiculous scrunched-up face even Hinata found hilarious.

It was sort of a rocky start of a good friendship they all had; even Kiba, who found his way into the orchard and quickly demanded a rematch with Naruto. He was instead given a mouth full of Pinab berries, and threatened by Ino not to tell about this place. Kiba reluctantly agreed.

Still, Hinata was glad to know that she was now part of Naruto's circle of friends, and the time they come to grow closer over the past few months.

* * *

"_Come in." said Sarutobi, hearing the door knocking. It opened to reveal the short Inuzuka hermit, Takeo. He walked up to the desk, but only reached it by forehead, so he settled with climbing onto the stool in front of the desk._

"_Whadda you want, Hokage?" he grunted, more mad than embarrassed he had to sit just to look at the Hokage's face. Partly the reason why he was an irritable man was because people make fun of his height… until they feared the man for chasing them with his dog Inju-chan. They then called him crazy, but to themselves of course._

"_I've heard that you recently chose an academy student to do your…exercise." The Hokage started. It was no rumor that Takeo liked to chase around any athletic looking civilian or Shinobi, just to get his dog a good running. Of course, he started to quiet down around the village, only chasing someone once in a blue moon. Takeo doesn't usually mean any bad malice to anyone he chases; he just likes to scare people for the sport of it._

"_Yeah, I chased a punk, only because he went through my stuff, and took my egg."_

"_I heard that he had found it in the trash. Did you throw away that egg by any chance?"_

"_No; I hid it there of course. What better way to hide something than at the place where people _don't _want their stuff? Right under their smelly noses! They never suspected a thing!"_

_The Sandaime felt sweat trickling down the back of his head. Takeo was very paranoid, but he didn't honestly expect that he go to such lengths of keeping his stuff safe than the trashcan. He was surprised the egg lasted as long as it did before hatching._

"_Well, I thought I would like to let you know what the egg hatched and-"_

"_That brat took my egg and hatched it?! That ingrate! I was saving that for a special occasion!"_

"_I'm sorry to hear that, Takeo, but it's in Naruto's hands now. The egg hatched into a Rioru and-"_

"_Did you just say Naruto?" Takeo interrupted, casting a serious gaze on the Hokage. The Sandaime had a feeling that Takeo hated the boy as much as the villagers did, but it was hard to tell since he seemed to hate everyone. If he had a weakness, it was his inability to trust others._

"_Yes, I did; a golden one at that. And he thinks that Naruto is his parent. I wanted to let you know before I approve Naruto as his legal guardian."_

_Takeo stared at the Hokage for a long while, before eventually breaking out and sighing. "Go ahead. Not my problem anymore."_

_Sarutobi was surprised. Takeo was never one to give up so quickly. "Are you sure?"_

"_The pup thinks that the brat is his parent, right? Even I know that taking him now would only cause trouble; for both of them. I was planning on saving that little creature when the time was right, but it turns out it can't be helped now."_

_The Hokage nodded, in content with the Inuzuka's answer. "I just have several questions to ask. What exactly were you saving the egg for? And how did you get it in the first place?"_

_Takeo scowled. "Respectively; it's not important now, and it was a gift."_

"_From who?" The Sandaime asked._

_Takeo shrugged. "You're the Hokage. You figure it out."_

Sarutobi vividly remembered that talk with Takeo a few months ago. He took upon his offer to figure it out on his own, and had spent the last few days researching.

Before the Kyuubi incident, Poke'mon were valuable partners for many Shinobi and Civilians in the village. Some clans even specialized with several Poke'mon, like the Haruno clan with the Medicham family, who were strong in both body and spirit. Of course, the aftermath of the fight had caused a causality of Poke'mon greater than the humans. Furthermore, any Poke'mon that normally lived in the forest seemed to have disappeared, with no trace of them whatsoever. He felt at best to not mention this tragedy to anyone of the younger generation; both the Kyuubi sealing and the possible extinction of Poke'mon.

Of course, now everything has changed now that Naruto had found Arashi, a Riolu. It wouldn't have been as surprising if he found another Poke'mon like a Bulbasaur or a Pidgey or even a Pikachu. But a Riolu wasn't common; he only knew of one person to have a relative of the Lucario family line.

That was the last Hokage who surpassed him; Namikaze Minato. He and his Lucario, Kougai(1), were an unstoppable pair, holding a deep sense of trust with each other and untapped potential, which lead them to winning the last Great Shinobi War with Iwa. When Minato gave his life to seal the Kyuubi, Kougai stood by him and helped stall the beast, royal to the end. The Lucario died serving his master's suicide wish, ashes and all.

Kougai was the first and last Lucario seen in the village, raised by The Fourth himself when just a little Riolu. He remembered how Minato struggled to train under Jiraiya, and that the little Rioru would try to cheer him up and train with him in his chakra exercises. Minato eventually created his own jutsu, with the help and inspiration of Kougai.

That got Sarutobi thinking. Was it possible that Arashi was Kougai's child? It was very likely, but at the same not, not very convincing. He didn't recall the Lucario having any mates. Then again, The Fourth was also secretive about his love life and he didn't learn about his wife until _after _the Kyuubi attack.

It was still possible.

* * *

"Ok, that's enough for today. Class dismissed."

Naruto wasted no time in bolting out his desk and running for the door. _Gotta see Arashi, Gotta see Arashi-_

He didn't get that chance as Iruka caught him by the jacket and held him up in mid-air. Naruto continued to run, but instead merely made loud friction noise across the flow. It was similar to how Azami caught Naruto when they first met.

"Sorry Naruto, but you're coming with me."

"What?! Why?"

"I'm supervising you to clean up the mess you made. Everyone's not happy with your prank last night."

Naruto scowled. "How would you know if I did it?"

Iruka gave him a deadpanned look. "You're the kind of person who would pull this kind of prank, and everyone knows that."

"Yeah, well, you still can't prove I painted those Hokage heads!"

Naruto quickly covered his mouth on impulse, realizing the stupid mistake he made; Iruka never implied _what _prank he did, and was waiting for him to say it to prove his point. He could hear the majority of the class laughing at him.

"Let's go." Iruka left the classroom door, with Naruto still in his immobile state.

* * *

It was an embarrassing sight for the whole village; graffiti was all over the Hokage Monument. The Shodai Hokage's right eye was surrounded by a black circle and the left eye was crossed of with a black X, had a red zig-zag line under both eyes, and had a pink tongue drawn outside the statues lips. The Nidaime statue had a bunch of ridiculous drawings all over it like little sharks or bees floating around, as well a big flower on the cheek They were all pretty small, but very numerous to make it look like little dots and lines over the face. The Sandaime's face had white paint streaming down his eyes, nose, and ears, ruining the face of the current Hokage like he was bleeding and crying. Then there was the Yondaime…

"May I ask WHY you wrote so many random words on the Yondaime statue?" said Iruka, staring at the countless sketchy words itched on the head; like "Nevr giv op" or "I'm teh besd" or "Uodame 4evr!" They were all poorly spelled and it really questioned Naruto's spelling prowess.

"Don't ask; it was Arashi who wrote all that!" said Naruto, trying to clean off more of the graffiti from the Nidaime side, after finishing the Shodaime (which was a lot of work)

"Arashi? You're telling me you FORCED your Riolu to do all this?!"

"No! I helped too! He just did the Nidaime and Yondaime. He seemed real happy doing it."

Iruka sighed. "There's nothing fun in defiling the village like this, Naruto."

"You're just saying that because you didn't have the guts to do it yourself, Iruka-sensei!"

"Say that all you want, but you're not leaving until this entire monument is spotless."

Naruto paused mid-swipe, eyes widening. "What?! But Arashi's waiting for me!"

"Then I suggest you pick up the pace and clean up."

Naruto moaned, this wasn't fair at the slightest. Normally, the downfall of his pranks was that they don't affect anyone but himself, but now Arashi was a part of this and was waiting patiently for him. Oh well, at least he wasn't suffering on his account. It was going to take forever to clean the mess a boy and a raccoon-dog made.

"Frankly, I'm surprised he even knew some letter and pictures, even if the weren't accurate."

"I gave him some picture books and tried to teach him speak words besides his usual 'Riolu'. I didn't think he actually remember some of them."

Satisfied with the answer, Iruka said nothing and continued to watch Naruto clean up.

He was just finishing up the Nidaime face when he saw the last little doodle his Riolu made. It looked like himself, cheering and wearing a big coat and a crown. Next to it were some poorly written letters spelling 'Narrodo Whogage.'

Naruto smiled. Sure, Arashi may not be a very good speller or writer, but he had the heart to make up for it. Naruto always did pranks to try and get himself noticed, if not recognized for how well he did them. It was hard when people just thought of him as an annoying prank-making brat and nothing more, but Arashi thinks of him more than that. He truly, genuinely believes he could reach his dream, and that was really saying something. He slightly hesitated in scrubbing off the drawing, but remembered he had to clean everything off just to leave. He was about to, but heard a loud boom.

"Ok Naruto, that's enough. Let's head back."

"Huh? But, Iruka-sensei, you said I had to stay here until the mountain was spotless!"

"No point in working when it's late. Besides, the rain can wash up whatever you haven't finished here."

As if on cue, the rain started to pour, several dropped pelting down on them and on the picture. The Naruto doodle was smeared with rain as several droplets started to wash it off. Naruto frowned a little; if only he could hold onto that picture and not have it ruined…

"Let's head for the Ramen stand. My treat."

Normally, Naruto would agree to a free dinner, but he had to hurry up and go pick up Arashi. He was probably out in the rain under a berry tree waiting for him or something.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei, but I really got to go and visit Arashi. Maybe some other time!"

Without another word, he leaped out the mountains and hurriedly dashed for the Yamanaka orchard.

Iruka sighed to himself before smiling. "I guess I owe Arashi one. I actually get to keep my paycheck this time."

* * *

When Naruto arrived at the orchard, it was empty. Some berries were picked early and others were planted fresh to receive rain. After endlessly searching the area, he tried for Ino's shop, where he was greeted by a familiar face.

"_Riiii!"_ The Rioru happily squealed as he leaped to his master in a fierce bear hug. From the look in his eyes, he was crying, not just the rain.

"I'm sorry Arashi." He said, stroking his ears a bit. "I didn't want to be gone for so long either."

"Then don't next time!" an irritable voice screeched. Naruto looked up from his crying Rioru to see Ino impatiently tapping her foot from a counter of bright flowers. She looked soaked and peeved. "He was balling his eyes out for an hour straight! It was enough to water all the berries in the orchard!"

"Now, now, Ino-chan," Her grandmother said while watering some flower pots. "You can't expect a young, cute little baby like Arashi to not miss his caretaker, now would you?"

"The way he beat Kiba the other day is anything BUT young and cute!"

"He's eight months old! What did you expect?!" Naruto shouted, starting to get irritated about Ino's ranting.

"I expected him to be potty trained by now! He once used his own URINE to water the plants and ruined them! Lum berries are hard to come by you know!"

"I told you he was sorry about that! Let it go! It was like, three weeks ago!"

Hinata, meanwhile, was standing by a heater trying to keep warm but couldn't help to overhear the loud argument taking place. "Um, Naruto-kun, Ino-chan? Please stop fighting."

"Why? She started it!" The blonde boy yelled.

"And you were at fault for being a bad caretaker!" Ino chided.

"Arashi says I'm doing a great job."

Ino glared at him skeptically. "And just how do you know that?"

"I just know. Right Arashi?"

"_Lu! Lu!"_

"Well, I think I'll just be going now. Thanks again for watching over Arashi for me, obaasan."

Azami smiled at the boy. "Anytime lad. Oh, but before I forget; I got something for you."

All the young academy students blinked as the elder Yamanaka left for the backroom. Ino was confused, Hinata was surprised, and Naruto felt a mix of both. Naruto never really got any gifts often; they were usually from Sarutobi and most recently the Ichiraku family. What could Azami possibly have to give him?

When Azami came back, she held a cardboard box and handed it to him. "It's a gift from some anonymous stranger. All it said was he or she wanted you to have it."

Feeling more curious of what it was, Naruto hurriedly opened it and pulled out its contents. In his hands were a pile of dark blue clothing; shirt, pants, belt, gloves, and pair of sandals. Despite the mask, it was enough to be a part of a Shinobi Shozoku (2), although, there was straight line of orange paint through them all, like it was painted there when all of them were aligned. Separate, however, it looked like different slashes of orange arranged over the uniform.

"Why is it painted orange?" Ino asked, with a hint of disgust. Arashi whined.

"Arashi-chan here was playing with a paint brush earlier," Azami explained. "…and accidentally got it on the clothes. I'm not sure if it will come off or not, but it was such a nice design. I didn't want to ruin it without your consent."

Naruto was oddly silent staring at the clothing, starting to tremble as if upset. "This… Is…"

The girls had a feeling that Naruto was going to cry or scream, so they were about ready to give him comfort, until they heard the rest of his sentence.

"PERFECT!!"

Ino fell down from the sheer idiocy of the pause and reaction, while Hinata was stumped and Arashi suddenly perked up, as if he was praised instead of given the death penalty.

"You're right, obaasan, this IS a great design! The orange line makes it unique and unexpected! I couldn't have done a better job myself if I tried! Way to go, Arashi!"

"_Ri lu."_ Arashi said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

Ino slapped her forehead. "You've got to be kidding me." Even Hinata had to admit it was a little silly, but just settled on a giggle.

Without hesitation, Naruto rushed for the bathroom and changed into his new clothing. When he came out, he looked dashing as a ninja. The orange stripes were found diagonal from left to right on the shirt from the center of the back to the center of the front of the shirt, a horizontal line across the knee caps in the pants, and a dot or two on both gloves. The sandals looked fine and didn't have a trace of orange on them.

He looked very proud of his attire. "What do you think?"

"That you look like a bigger idiot than a minute ago?" Ino smirked monotonously. Naruto quickly shot the other blonde a death glare. In all honesty, she was merely teasing, and while it _did _make him look like an idiot, it worked for him. Not for the silly appearance, but rather that it feels just right for him.

"I-it looks great, Naruto-kun!" Hinata reassured, feeling the same way. That comment mollifying Naruto considerably, and she blushed when he gave her a small smile.

Azami smiled as she nodded, and Arashi did a thumb's up (or paw up) gesture. Naruto felt in content with this, and was willing to thank whoever gave him such a great gift; if he would ever meet that person anyway…

* * *

Elsewhere, Inuzuka Takeo sat in his rocking chair out on the front porch of his house, the roof protecting him most of the rain. He rocked back and forth in it, enjoying the pelting beauty of nature while petting his dog Inju-chan curled up and sitting next to him.

It was times like this that the hermit could just forget about all his troubles and relax, especially after he had nothing to worry about now. The brat was annoying, true, but he could relate. Both of them were seen with disdain in the other villager's eyes, even his own clan. He thought he could help Naruto out, if just a little.

"You think the brat would like my little present, Inju-chan?"

The dog ruffed in agreement.

Takeo chuckled before gazing to the clouds. "He'd better. Minato owes me one for this…"

* * *

Time passed, and the village seemed a lot more peaceful than anyone could remember. Nothing out the ordinary happened, and but many of the villagers started to feel tense; it's been months since the prank on the Hokage heads and Naruto hasn't made another one since.

One of the two Jounin walking around the village was especially edgy. "It's quiet…_too_ quiet."

"It's probably nothing, Izumo." Kotetsu assured.

"Nothing? How can you be so calm? He's _watching _us!"

"You mean the brat? Look, he hasn't done anything yet so don't get so worked up about it. The Hokage did say that taking care of the Riolu would distract Naruto from pranks, and it has."

Izumo didn't look convinced. "It's impossible to say for sure. He always has some excuse as to not do something before and proved us wrong time and time again. For crying out loud, this is the kid who went into the ANBU base and painted it ORANGE! THE ENTIRE ANBU BASE ORANGE!"

Kotetsu shook his head. "Look, we just got graduated into Jounin, and I like to spend every minute of this day celebrating without you ruining it with paranoia. Just relax; if he was planning on doing something, he would have done it by now."

"Or maybe he's preparing for a really big practical joke that will humiliate the entire village forever."

'_Haven't thought about that.' _Kotetsu admitted, but only to himself. "I said relax, ok?"

They uneventfully made their way to the party store, buying all the essentials for their self-graduation party. They had the day off, so they were planning to make the best of it and drink until they can't anymore. They were just leaving when a orange-blue blur ran past them into the same store.

Uzumaki Naruto. In his blue and orange... matador costume?

Curious, Izumo and Kotetsu walked away behind the store before using henge to make themselves look 70 years older. They walked in, looking at the party favors when they were really eavesdropping.

"Let's see here, streamers, balloons, party hats and napkins, and candles; that's all?"

"Mostly." said Naruto. "Do you make cakes here?"

"Some of the best."

"Could I have that too?"

"Be sure to pay double, kid."

"Yeah yeah…"

As the man walked to the back to receive the cake, the two jounin grouped together and gossiped.

"He's up to something, I just now it!"

"Calm down, Izumo, maybe he's having a party."

"The only time the kid ever buys party supplies is for pranks, Kotetsu. Streamers? He used them to make the Hyuuga Compound a giant streamer jungle. Balloons? He filled them up with water and soaked the Akimichi clan with them. Party hats and napkins? He tweaked them and used them as mufflers for the Inuzuka dogs. And let's not forget the cake; filled the mix with chocolate laxatives and gave it to the Hokage as a 'gift'. Enough said."

"If that's the case, why would he buy all of them at once?"

Old Izumo's elderly eyes widened, as if coming to realization. "It can be…"

"What?"

"No, I must be crazy!"

"What?!" Old Kotetsu was starting to feel nervous in what his partner was implying.

"All those items he used for his past pranks..." Old Izumo started.

"Yeah?"

"He must plan to get them again…"

"Yeah?"

"And…PULL ALL THE SAME PRANKS ALL AT ONCE!"

Old Kotetsu blinked. "You're right."

"I know."

"You _are _crazy."

Izumo glared at his deadpanned partner and friend in disgust, partly at the fact he would remain so stubborn. "It's possible."

"Or it could be the fact that he's throwing a party for someone?" The old Kotetsu asked in an obvious tone.

Old Izumo's expression grew dreadful. "For who?"

The other Jounin didn't know what to say after that. Who _would _Naruto throw a party for? Sure, it was evident that he had a few new friends since he found the Rioru, but their parents would never let him throw a party for. He wouldn't be stupid enough to make himself a fake birthday, unless…

"What day is it?"

Old Izumo looked confused. "Today? Tuesday, April 20th."

April… his birthday wasn't for another six months. And any decorations he would get for that would long be forgotten. People usually get those only a month early at most, to stay fresh in the mind. Maybe, as crazy as Izumo's idea was, he was going for the prank of all pranks. But something was oddly familiar with the date...

"We still shouldn't jump into conclusions. If he was REALLY going to do what you said, he would have to go for _it_."

Izumo gasped. "You don't mean…?" He asked, almost too shocked to whisper.

Kotetsu nodded. "I do, but, REALLY. He wouldn't… not after last year."

It was around that time when the man came for the cake Naruto had asked for. It was a simple vanilla cake with white frosting over it; looked innocent enough. No chocolate as the eye can see.

"Anything else?" The clerk asked.

"Do you have 10 packs of pop-rocks?"

Both the jounin's mouths dropped wide open, faces paling and almost losing concentration of their henge. _"He __**would**..."_

The last time Naruto bought pop-rocks was possibly his most famous scheme of all; last year, at the dead of night, he filled every toilet in more than half of the buildings in the village, including the academy, ANBU base, and Hokage's office with said pop-rocks. When the villagers went to flush their toilets, it caused the pipes inside to blow holes in the pipes and nearly ruin the pipelines for the whole village. He was well punished, mind you, helping the other ninja repairing the pipes he damaged, and it was also the time when everyone knew of the pranking expertise of Uzumaki Naruto and never underestimated him in that expertise again.

Old Kotetsu gulped. 10 packs were more than enough to destroy the village with the other pranks he has in store. He glanced to Izumo, who was equally uneasy. "Ok. _Now _we can jump into conclusions."

* * *

In truth, Naruto found no fondness in pulling pranks anymore. All that seemed to matter to him was looking after for Arashi's well being. Making sure he was alright, feeding him when needed, giving him milk (which Azami had been doing up until she taught him how to) and training with him.

He was a little reluctant at first to let him train with him, but he was always so full of energy and wanted to help him any way he can. Also, he was strong enough to beat down Kiba in a few punches and he didn't really want to baby him forever, despite Ino and Hinata's constant attempts.

He wasn't much of a teacher, so he only taught him some of the poor basics he knew; running, punching, kicking, jumping, guarding and avoiding. He was a bit faster than he was, but had a frail body, so defending was a bit difficult. At least Arashi got all the basics down, a bit quicker than Naruto even.

Of course, he didn't have much time for himself anymore. Before he knew it, the Graduation Exam was right around the corner.

* * *

OoC: Ok, things are coming along, some interaction and the main plot line shall start next chapter

1. Kougai translates to outside a port. It is supposed to be a similar joke to his master, how Minato translates to port, or habor

2. Remember those real life ninja dressed in pitch black gi and ACTUALLY look like ninja (more so than the ones in Naruto at least)? That's a Shinobi Shozoku. Just… more like Aaron/Riley's garb or something. Hence also the comment on the matador.


	5. Graduation

Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Pokemon. This is merely a made up story to entertain myself, and hopefully, people of both fandoms. Enjoy.

"That's the biggest damn egg I've ever seen!" Normal speech  
'_Must be some sort of super dog.'_ Normal thoughts  
"_Riiiiii-o?" _Pokemon speak  
"_Expect me back by next week at best"_ Flashback/Dream  
"**Insolent whelp…" **Demon Speak  
"_**BOOYA!" **_Inner Sakura Speak/Demon thoughts

Chapter 5: Graduation

"Today's the last day before the exams. Gotta train, gotta train, gotta train, gotta train…" That was the sole mantra that ran through Naruto's mind as he continuously practiced on his weakness; the Bunshin Jutsu. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't even do one of the simplest of genin techniques. It was insane!

"Bunshin no Justu!"

Plumes of smoke erupted at the command, and quickly dispersed… where a deadly form of Naruto's scapegoat appeared.

"ARRG! WHAT GIVES!?"

Not far from his training spot, the others were either watching or leisurely doing plant work. It was hard not to hear Naruto's screams of frustration.

"Naruto-kun is having trouble again…" Hinata sighed. It was painful to see him struggle so.

Ino huffed as she spread the mulch around. "You know him. He's too obstinate to actually ask us for help."

Hinata shook her head. "I don't think that's true. It's probably because… he never had anyone to ask."

Arashi made a soft whine.

It was no secret that he grew up alone and without a family but the fact that he was sought as a common target for prejudice often left that fact off the kid's minds.

"Well, what do you expect to happen?" said Kiba. "Naruto walking up to us and ask for help? That'll be the day!"

"Um, guys?"

Their attention turned over to the blonde boy, not his usual confident self.

"Can you, um…" Naruto blushed and looked away. "What I mean is, do any of you know how to do Bunshin?"

This was a first, and apparently, according to Kiba, _the day_. For all they've known Naruto, he was stubborn to a fault and would keep trying to do something until he just gave up and did again later. For him to come up and ask for help of all things surprised them, especially Kiba.

Ino glanced to between her friends. The dog boy was wide eyed and trying to process what he just heard, as he and Sasuke were also the type of guys who preferred solitude when training, and the Hyuuga was too startled out of her wits to actually say yes which Ino could tell was what she really wanted. Compared to the two of them, she was more than willing to help but for some reason unknown to her, she was hesitant to do so.

But why? She didn't want to see him fail again and he really needed it. That much was true. But she couldn't even bring herself to drop what she was doing and show him the basic Bunshin sign again. Maybe because she thought the other two should do it?

The hesitation and silence didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. Feeling that they didn't want to be a part of this, he sighed.

"I understand, sorry for asking. I'll just keep train…"

"NO!"

The sudden blurt from Ino surprised everyone and an uncomfortable silence was followed soon after. Kiba decided to break that silence with a question that loomed all their minds.

"What?"

Ino felt her face turn red. She exhaled, quickly collected her thoughts and tried again.

"I-I mean… I'll help."

Suddenly feeling more confident in herself, she shoved the mulch in Kiba's hands, walked towards Naruto and grabbed his hand. The Riolu quickly followed them.

"Keep working, ok?" She called over her shoulder.

Kiba and Hinata both slump their heads down, the former being forced to do her chore and the latter upset that she missed the chance to train with Naruto. They both muttered a nearly inaudible "Ok".

Ino dragged the other blonde back to the training area, confused as to why she really wanted to help him. She could have encouraged Hinata or forced Kiba to do it for her, but instead volunteered. This was the annoying brat who strolled into the secret Yamanaka Berry Orchard for crying out loud.

While these thoughts cycled her head, Naruto was just as confused with her actions. Did she REALLY want to help him that bad? Maybe asking for help wasn't as bad as he thought after all.

After reaching a fair distance away from the others, she shoved Naruto away.

"Ok, try again." When he looked confused, she sighed and explained, "If I plan to help you, I need to know what exactly you're doing wrong, like hand signs or execution or something.."

"Oh. Ok."

With that in mind, Naruto made a cross sign, performing the Bunshin jutsu and failing again. Ino stared at him intently, before asking him to try again. Naruto failed again, again Ino staring during the process.

"I think I know what the problem is." She said after a while.

"What?"

"You use to too much chakra in execution." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Chakra?"

Arashi tilted his head also. "_Lu ri?"_

Ino slapped her forehead. "You're meaning to tell me that you forgot all about chakra?!"

"Of course I didn't!" said Naruto. "I just… slept when Iruka-sensei went over it."

The blonde girl sighed. That would explain a lot. "Ok, pay attention, because I'm only going to go over this once."

"Chakra is a blend of spirit energy and body energy into one. The spiritual energy comes from exercises like meditating or other training experiences, and the body energy is made up by billions of cells and the body's endurance. Using one over the other screws up the usage of a jutsu, like Bunshin, so it falls apart."

Naruto whistled. "You sure are smart, Ino."

Ino blushed and fiddled with her hair. "Ah, well, it's just common knowledge, and that forehead girl knows about this stuff more than me."

Naruto blinked. He only remembered hearing that name vaguely, but from her behavior towards a certain girl, and the fact that he knew only one girl with a notable forehead; he knew who she was referring too.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah! That good-for-nothing poser! After all I did for her, she had the gall to forget me and act on her own. Like she's doing any better without me!"

Naruto had a feeling that Ino wasn't being fully honest, but didn't really have the heart to ask her. She calmed down enough to get back to teaching him.

"You're fair when it comes to body energy, but you REALLY need to work on the spirit energy. I almost wished that billboard brow was here,"

Her expression started to darken when reminded of Sakura again.

"She always liked to brag about her chakra control like it was a natural talent!"

Naruto grew worried again. "Uh, Ino…"

"And everyone forgets the fact that she used to be made fun of because of that damn forehead! But who was the one who helped her out of that shell?! Me! Yamanaka Ino!"

"Ino…"

"I was her first friend! You'd think she actually be more grateful for standing up for her and showing her this place! It was our Secret Garden! Our paradise! Our own haven! But did she?! Nooooooooo! She grew deceitful and vowed to take away my Sasu.."

"INO!"

All the ranting she did, made Naruto forget all about his training problems, and more focused on figuring out what the hell was wrong with his friend. The two of them stared at each other in silence before Naruto broke it with some hindsight.

"Did you ever try to make up?"

That question baffled her, so settled the awkward laugh, which only made her look ridiculous, when neither he nor Arashi were laughing.

"Y-you're kidding, right?"

"I heard obaa-, er, Azami-san once told me that her granddaughter had a fight with a friend once."

A silence loomed over them as the wind whistled through the forest.

"You're friend… it was Sakura-chan, wasn't it?"

Ino didn't have to answer. The expression on her face did it for her. The tone on her voice was sour to match it.

"What about it?"

"Well, uh…" Naruto said, trying to remember what her grandmother said to him. "It's better to live and forget, rather than stay mad at the past. It isn't worth it."

"Says who?" Ino snapped.

"You're grandma, remember?"

"Oh…"

Naruto didn't take her sudden sadness as a good sign.

"I mean, don't get me wrong." He said. "You're a, uh… _nice_ girl." From this, he earned a glare from her. His hesitation was that obvious.

"But if you keep overreacting like what you just did with Sakura, you might end up alone and depressed in the end. I mean, you should really work on your temp… Ino? Are you ok?"

Ino didn't know what to say; that little statement Naruto made left her totally dumbstruck and sad. Alone and depressed… was that really her future? Especially being a ninja?

It suddenly occurred to her why she was hesitant with Naruto in the first place. In a way, he reminded her of Sakura; alone, upset, without a friend in the world. Sakura was fortunate to have her as a friend but for whatever reason that wasn't explained to her, Naruto is still avoided like a plague.

She taught Sakura everything she knew: flowers, shinobi tricks, even how to manage her own hair. They were the best of friends.

Then she started becoming independent and doing things on her own, reading books and fawning over the Uchiha. Sure, girls started to like him for one reason or another, whither it be status or grades or looks, and she got mad at her for liking him after she did, but the fact that she wanted him all for herself and wanted to be rivals gave her really mixed feelings: anger, which was later directed onto making that girl's life as miserable as it could get, confusion, as to why she suddenly started getting so distant, and sadness, for which she latched onto her grandmother and cried for the rest of the day.

She was afraid that Naruto would also become that independent, leaving her alone again and doing things to make her mad too. But, what could he possibly do? She was just trying to help him do a simple exercise, but what if he started to keep asking her for advice until she's all dried up and leaves her with his own desires? Sakura did, and she was once nobody with an abnormal forehead. He wouldn't do that, though, would he?

Meanwhile, Naruto was starting to worry. Ino hadn't said anything for a while now, and he had a good idea that she was silently seething over what he said. That's what Sakura did whenever he tried to convince to ditch Sasuke and date him instead; they all backfired and grew steadily more painful every time. Worried about another variation of said pain, he tried to calm her  
down.

"I-I didn't mean it like that! So what if nobody else is your friend?"

Naruto slightly cursed himself for not making that subtle enough, and seeing Ino cringe like that, but quickly continued his statement.

"Wh-what I mean is, I'll still be your friend!"

That got Ino's attention, as she looked up with slight hope. She quickly declined it and looked away.

"Some friendships aren't ever meant to be made."

"Who cares? I was told that I could never make friends in Konoha but whoever said that was obviously lying. You, Arashi, Azami-san, Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, Iruka-sensei, Old Man Teuchi, Ayame-nee-chan, you're all precious to me and I wouldn't give any of that up for the world!"

Arashi immediately perked up when he heard his name, only vaguely hearing the conversation, and was confused as to how he was involved.

"_Ririori? Ri? Ri? Ri?"_

"Calm down, it's nothing important!" Naruto snapped at the exuberant Riolu.

"You really mean it?" Ino asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I just used him as an example, and then he got all excited for…"

She bonked him on the head for such single-mindedness. "Not that; the friend thing!"

"Oh that." Naruto scratched his injured head. "Of course. I mean, you're some of the nicest guys, erm, girls, I've ever met, and I wouldn't want to lose that, you know?"

From here he pulled out his trademark grin and thumps up posture. "I'll make sure that none of you regret having a friend like me! Believe it!"

_"Ro Riolu!"_ The Poke'mon cheered almost immediately, paw thrust into the air. It was clear he was attempting to mimic Naruto's pose.

Ino was glad that Naruto's smile left him blind because he would have seen her blush and tears. She quickly wiped them away and smiled.

"Thank you… Naruto."

* * *

The next day was finally the day for Graduation, where everybody met with untamed anticipation. Some got too hooked on caffeine and couldn't stand still for more than 0.5 seconds. Others stayed up too late and are now feeling VERY weak (but frankly not tired). One just got so  
excited he ran around the academy a bit… before hitting a light post.

Still, it was a big day for the Genin hopefuls and parents dropped off their children with high hopes and big egos. It was another hardship Naruto was familiar with, and took it with a high head. He did feel a little happier when Azami arrived; for both Ino and himself. Iruka even stopped by to wish him good luck; just him. It wasn't like a parent's encouragement, but it was the next best thing.

No sooner did he arrive the building and walk through the hallway did he begin to ponder that he had forgotten something very important, which confused Ino as well. (Un)Fortunately, their answer came through the loud personage of Kiba.

"Hey guys! How was training yesterday?"

Naruto and Ino stopped dead. A sole thought came through their minds. _'Oh, crap.'_

Immediately after, Naruto leaned towards the wall closest to him and consecutively banged his head against it. Ino and Kiba couldn't help but to stare at him with sweat rolling down, soon followed by Hinata who arrived a little later.

"I can't believe I forgot to help him!" sighed Ino.

"W-well, what did you two do?" asked Hinata.

"That's the thing. Nothing."

Kiba raised an eyebrow, before smirking slyly and chuckled. "Oh, I see. Looks like little Ino decided to go for the dope instead of the Uchiha."

"WHAT?!" both girls exclaimed; Hinata in shock, and Ino in fury.

Kiba started to taunt her with the dreaded embarrassing couple's song everyone knows. Akamaru joined him singing in 'Aru's.

"Naruto and Ino, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-"

He never got to 'G'. A pissed off Ino grabbed his head and bashed it against the wall next to Naruto, soon matching the exact pattern he was making. Akamaru quickly stopped and hid behind Hinata's leg. She felt more sweat roll down her head and sighed.

The Hyuuga heiress really did like her new found friends who didn't question her shyness (Naruto merely encouraged her politely to be more open, Ino liked to give a little girl-to-girl gossip from time to time, and Kiba merely cared about fighting Naruto again) but their antics were more or less embarrassing to watch. She sometimes wished she could be a part of them; not because it would make her seem less spineless, but because she wouldn't be as humiliated to watch them from the sidelines as to actually be a part of them.

"Tehehe! What a surprise."

The new voice brought almost all of them to its attention (besides Naruto, who was STILL banging his head). Haruno Sakura stood there giggling at them like she was watching a mini-theater. The sight of the familiar pink-haired classmate made Ino's blood boil, Hinata's humiliation worse, and Kiba, with a giant black bruise on his forehead, was more worried that he would be a further target of Ino's anger venting.

"I didn't think you'd try to hang out with Naruto, Ino. Giving up on Sasuke-kun already?"

Ino huffed. "For your information, I just have better things to do than follow him around all the time. I saved a lot of free time doing exercise than a futile attempt at following him."

That barb seemed to make Sakura falter a bit, but she quickly overcame it and smirked.

"Is that why you with these three?"

"They're my friends."

"Really now? Just looks to me you've fallen down from popularity, Ino." She said, shaking her head knowingly.

Ino's eyes flared as her grip on Kiba grew tighter and more restricting, causing him agony. Hinata knew better that this was just a tactic thought by Sakura; she wasn't particularly a mean person, but she tends to be very obsessive on what she wants, whether it's impressing Sasuke or insulting her love rivals (like Ino).

"Hey."

The new voice apparently saved the hallway from a bloody cat fight as they turned to see the popular Uchiha Sasuke himself.

"S-S-SASUKE-KUUUUN!"

The girls squealed; Hinata's was much softer. It was true that all girls held a crush on the Uchiha, and the Hyuuga girl was no exception. She was just so shy and quiet that she couldn't see to herself being another fan girl. Plus, there was making sure Naruto wasn't doing anything foolish via watching/stalking him.

"Heh, Sasuke." Kiba scoffed. Ino quickly bashed his head against the wall again.

"Heh, Kiba." Sasuke replied, with a slight smirk at his conflict.

Sakura, with hearts in her eyes, began her 'love' speech.  
"OHSASUKEKUNTODAY'...team..."

It quickly died out as she saw Sasuke walk right past her.

Ino was quick on the uptake; also feeling the 'love'.

"OHSASUKEKUNIKNEWYOU'DCHOOSEMEIFORONEDON'...will..."

That love speech also didn't last long either… for Sasuke also walked past her.

Kiba thought of this humorous and was REALLY tempted to say "Heh, you girls got dissed." but decided against it because they would only beat him up more. He knew when to say what and this wasn't the time. Still, he could help but to chuckle, which was joined by Akamaru's doggy snigger and Hinata's quiet giggle. The girls were too dumped to even notice.

Sasuke continued his walk to the wall-banging blonde and stared at him.

"Dope." he said.

Naruto kept banging. Sasuke let out a sigh.

"Dope." He said again, louder.

Naruto continued to bang his head. Sasuke, finally peeved with a popped vein, pulled Naruto's shoulder and yanked him away from the wall, spun him, then thrust his back to the wall. As Naruto winced in pain, the others snapped out of their fits and stared at the two boys.

"Dope." said Sasuke, in his still calm tone.

"Teme." Naruto replied, without missing a beat.

Sasuke scanned the hallway a bit before asking, "Where's the Riolu?"

That question surprised everyone but Sakura, who was confused. "The what?"

"That pet of yours that you brought with you about a year ago." Sasuke answered, reminding Naruto. He was honestly surprised he even noticed.

"Oh yeah. That monster dog that beat up Kiba! It must be a fluke; Naruto wouldn't be able to raise anything right."

"Arashi isn't a monster!" Naruto snapped. He knew Sakura said harsh things to him from time to time, but he wasn't one to let someone make fun of Arashi. He quickly turned to Sasuke.

"And what's so important about him now?" he asked.

Sakura blinked. Hearing Naruto get mad at her was something she didn't expect, which left her speechless. Sasuke didn't feel as hesitant.

"I want it." He said, straight to the point.

Five pairs of eyes literally bulged out of their sockets. "What?!"

"Sasuke-kun, be reasonable!" Sakura said, for once standing up for the blonde boy. "I get how strong that Arashi thing is but that thing is all that Naruto has. What exactly would come out of getting something like…"

"Shut up."

That statement from her crush was enough to have Sakura lose her confidence and indeed shut up. Sasuke didn't as much as side glance away from Naruto.

"Riolus don't just pop up anywhere anymore, Naruto. The fact that you found it by chance is just some uncanny."

"How do you even know what he is?" Naruto asked. He himself didn't know what Arashi was until reading that Poke'mon book he got from school, and he was sure it was the only one of its kind. He certainly didn't hear anything about Poke'mon before finding Arashi and the book, anyway.

"I did some research back at the Uchiha clan books." Said Sasuke. "My clan happens to be good known users for Fire, Psychic, and Fighting type Poke'mon."

"Poke'mon?" asked Sakura. "Uchihas used Poke'mon? Since when?"

Sasuke again ignored her and all else but Naruto. "Your Riolu is of the Fighting type. Its unique style is what gave the origin of the Hyuua's Juuken, rivaling only to the Uchiha's Sharingan."

Naruto blinked. Hinata looked as surprised as he was from this revelation. How the hell does he know all this?!

"It is a waste of such potential to be in your care. Haruno's right,"

From here, Sakura smiled brightly to the dull-glaring Ino.

"That so called 'fight' with Kiba was hardly worth mentioning. He always gets too over confident and screws up in the end."

"Up yours, Teme!" Kiba shouted on impulse as Akamaru growled. Ino quickly bashed the Inuzuka's head against the wall again to shut them up.

"So I thought it would be best to save yourself from later humiliation and take that Riolu of your hands. Since you haven't been training it as of late, it might need a stronger teacher as an ideal role model. What do you say?"

Anyone would be smart enough to say to grudgingly say 'yes' whenever Sasuke wants something (except wanting all the girls to stop bothering him). This rather strange demand was no exception but Naruto wasn't going to have any of that.

"Kiss my ass, Teme."

The hallway itself froze in horror with audible gasps. Naruto's friends, Sakura, and any other students stopped and stared at him in complete horror, and Akamaru literally dropped dead on the floor, while a random fan girl fainted. Sasuke merely raised his eyebrow a fraction high.

"I don't care how great you Uchiha _were_, how much _you_ want Arashi, or how better you _think_ you can raise him. Even if I wanted to give him away, which I never will, I'm his legal guardian, so unless you want to consider being his new babysitter, then just try to find your own damn Poke'mon! Until then, you can, once again, KISS MY ASS!"

The fury of almost all girls in the hallway was steadily increasing as Naruto ranted, the boys were wetting themselves at the fact Naruto told Sasuke off like it was no big deal, and Hinata and Kiba continued to stare gawking at what exactly he had just done.

But, there wasn't going to be a big fight as everyone had predicted and Sasuke did three things he would never normally do in a sane world.

One, he smirked. Two, he let his grip go. Three, he _complimented the dope._

"I guess you have some backbone after all."

Naruto would have gawked his mouth open and wonder what just happened, as well as thanking whatever outside force saved him from getting pummeled by the Uchiha, but that would ruin whatever great stroke of luck he had looking superior to the other students. Besides, nearly everyone else was doing it already. He settled on a smirk of his own.

"Of course I do."

"Funny. Last I remembered you were the idiot dead-last who could hardly untie himself from a knot."

Naruto sweat dropped at Sasuke's obvious statement, and chuckled awkwardly.

"But I guess you're not a total waste of space if you're that protective of the Riolu. But if you ever change your mind…"

Naruto huffed. "Like hell that would happen."

"I see. Well then, just don't screw up this time."

With that, Sasuke walked back to class, where Sakura and the others quickly followed. Naruto kept that cool, confident face until he was gone and out of earshot to look as surprised as his friends.

"Ok, did that SERIOUSLY just happen?!" he exclaimed.

"You mean Sasuke coming over, acting all high and mighty, then acting all happy after you downright insulted him? Yeah, I think all that head banging must have made us delusional." As always, Kiba knew what to say at the time, even if it hinted some sarcasm.

Ino dropped Kiba like a sack of potatoes and cried comically. "I'll say! I can't BELIEVE he talked to you! YOU! What about me?! Oh it must have beenwhat I said!"

Again she was caught in her own little gibberish that left her friends confused, but Hinata quickly ignored it.

"U-um, M-maybe Sasuke-kun wanted to say "G-Good luck"… i-in his own way."

Naruto blinked. He hadn't thought about it that way. It would make sense as to why he said "don't screw up this time." Maybe that arrogant child star of the academy wasn't so bad after all. Of course, one could never be too sure.

It was around that time that when Kiba was getting up and Ino stopped ranting when hearing the bell. The test was about to start.

Kiba, Akamaru, and Ino wasted no time getting to class, but Hinata stopped Naruto when asking a question.

"W-what was it that you needed help in?"

Naruto sighed being reminded what made him hit his head in the first place.

"Ino got up to as far as saying I needed to work on my spirit energy a bit more. She never really specified how to work on that. Besides meditating I guess."

Hinata smiled. "W-well, then that's easy."

"How? I never meditated before."

"M-meditating means to think calmly and relax while doing so."

Naruto looked relieved. "Really? I thought it was just thinking about nothing!"

Hinata giggled. "Y-yes, well, it's not much that can be studied. Just think about whatever makes you happy, a-and, I sure you'll do fine."

"What makes me happy…" Naruto nodded, in content, and flashed Hinata a blushing-guaranteed smile.

"Thanks, Hinata!"

* * *

No sooner did he arrive to the classroom did the graduation exam start. It was a simple written test stating basic questions on how a ninja should act in what ideal situation, mostly expressing the idea of teamwork, survival, and most of all, completing the mission.

Naruto had some difficulty going through this; he felt he knew some questions but didn't because he didn't completely go over them and left him crazy in writing whatever answer seemed best to him. Kiba had the same problem, occasionally chewing on his pencil in nervousness. Ino, Hinata, and Sakura had no problem doing theirs and Sasuke finished around the same time as them. Shino seemed impassive through the whole thing (as he was normally), Chouji was having troubling answering questions now that his bag of snacks was confiscated, and Shikamaru finished a good portion of it in record time so he could have more time to sleep.

Next was a basic obstacle course outside. It was heavily laid out with traps and twists and turns that only a Genin could have moderate trouble with which meant this was about up their alley. They had to run through, avoid any trap coming their way, and reach the goal before a minute was up. Sounds easy but hardly was. Some made it near the last second, others had gotten themselves lost which caused the time to dwindle and one kept banging his head into tree trunks before giving up. He apparently REALLY needed some glasses.

Sasuke cleared through the area without much difficulty, only scratching his clothes by a margin or two. He cleared it in 26 seconds even; the best course record. Shino met with the same conditions, but didn't catch up to match his time; he was 5 seconds off. Shikamaru didn't care about getting there on time, for he merely walked the whole way. The whole trip he avoided any trap that came at him, and with the most minimal of effort. He finished the course in over 70 seconds but was given credit for successfully treading through the area untouched. He merely grunted and sat on the ground to rest.

Hinata successfully cleared through the area in 41.52 seconds, using her Byakugan to foresee any trap in front of her and avoid it ahead of time. Ino and Sakura merely had a lot of luck and fierce determination in which they tied in the same time; 46.49 seconds.

Students like Naruto, Kiba, and Chouji had the most difficult time out of most people. The constant bees flying, branch flying, and even anvil falling (to which Naruto commented "WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GET AN ANVIL!?") nearly had them scared out of their wits. Kiba and Akamaru beat the other two's time in 57.19 seconds, and Chouji was just crawling out of a swamp he had fallen into before clearing it, 58.32 seconds, but Naruto used everything and anything to clear through the track, and made in the abysmal time of 59.59 seconds.

Now was the last part of the test; the jutsu test. The students were to perform the three jutsu learned from the academy; Kawamari, Henge… and Bunshin. After that the grades are all totaled and averaged, and the student either graduates or flunks this whole thing. Saying that Naruto was a little nervous was a big understatement. Albeit when he heard when the students would perform in alphabetical order, he relieved a bit; he was going to be one of the last few to do it.

He wasted no time he practicing in that idea Hinata gave her and tried any possible good thing he want to happen in his life. First, he was the new Hokage. Yeah, that was good. He could literally see the sorry looks on everyone's faces, bowing to him and praising him for being the best ninja since the Yondaime. He could swear that the Inuzuka hermit Takeo was among them. Others seemed happier and cheerful than the rest. That old man Sandaime or example seems pleased with him, and then there's the Ichiraku family. Then there were his friends; Kiba clapping like a mad dog, Akamaru cheerbarking, and the girls smiling. Sakura was his newly-wed wife, and Sasuke was trying to put up a smile to him horribly. Yeah, it really made his day seeing Sasuke that defeated.

Of course, nothing could compare to how Arashi saw him. His vigor and joy couldn't be expressed as he applauds for him. He seemed happy to know everything worked for his guardian in the end.

Just the way it should be…

* * *

"Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka called out.

As Sasuke left to be tested, Ino and the others were looking for Naruto. He was one of the only two left before her, and she was more worried for his performance than her own. He barely passed the last two parts of the test and this was likely his last chance. But they haven't seen him since they were brought to the gymnasium.

So far, the students walking back out has meet with either a great cheer or a deadly silence, all depending on if the student has graduated or not. After this test, they either get it or they don't.

Kiba and Hinata did well, already wearing the heading on their forehead or around their neck respectively. A lot of others passed as well; Shino, Shikamaru, and Chouji to name a few. Oh, and then there's Sakura. Seeing her graduate relaxed her a bit; if forehead girl can do it, so can she.

"I found him." said Kiba, pointing to a corner. The followed him and stood dumbfound seeing him… sleeping.

Ino immediately blew up. "His turn is up in a matter of minutes and he's sleeping like a rock! He sure knows when to make a stupid idea!"

"Perhaps he was mediating." Kiba joked, with little confidence in that statement.

Hinata blushed, feeling that this was somewhat her fault.

"Well, we might as well wake him up." said Ino. Kiba nodded in agreement. They both drew in a deep breath and just before two of the three loudest genin-to-be shouted out their vocal chords, Hinata interrupted them.

"Can I do this?" she asked, without so much as a stutter..

Her friends looked at her funny, but decided to let her do it. She must have a more subtle method than they did.

Hinata blushed more, embarrassed to actually thinking of doing this. Perhaps it was because she wanted to be more involved with the group or just prove she wasn't the same timid girl they met before. She owed Naruto for extending that hand in friendship. No, really, she owed Arashi that. Because of him, she was actually able to make herself known to be his friend, albeit forced in a way. She felt herself to love the little thing as much as Naruto did.

Taking a deep breath, she bellowed in a loud earth-shattering roar.

"WAKE UP!!"

That would forever be the moment known to the rest of the students as the day Hyuuga Hinata screamed at the top of her lungs. The whole room was hushed in silence, from nervous consoling to fan girl gossip. Ino and Kiba shared the same reaction, and Hinata looked just as shocked, covering her mouth like she just 'eep'ed. Naruto awoke with a start and saw everyone staring at what seemed to be him, when it's actually a flustered Hyuuga. Luckily, this awkwardness didn't last long.

As Sasuke walked back out, a linen cloth with a metal plate stapled on it was seen dangling from his hand; The official Konoha headband. Before Iruka could call up the next name, feminine screams filled the room in cheer.

"Heh, no surprise there." Kiba said, mostly to himself since Ino's close by screeching made it barely audible.

Iruka waited awkwardly until the cheering subsided before continuing. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Some snickers filled the air, causing Naruto to frown. This was pretty evident that he hadn't gotten a snowball's chance at succeeding.

'Maybe I should just try again next year…' He thought. It's not like anyone would really hate and/or remember him next year. He was shaking in his feet, any confidence from his dream gone and now worried of failing, like the last two times. As if sensing his nervousness, the Inuzuka genin planted his arm on his shoulder and grinned.

"Ah, don't listen to them." said Kiba. "They only forgot what it's like to get your dog pissed off."

Naruto couldn't help but to grin hearing that.

"Yeah. You know, believe in yourself." Ino rambled. "I don't know, just some sagely wisdom I guess. But really; don't screw up."

Hinata smiled as she started poking her fingers. "U-um, good luck, Naruto-kun."

If the positive reinforcement from his friends didn't do it, it was Sasuke's ever slight smirk, oblivious to anyone else but the two of them. It spoke to him, as if saying "Go on. I dare you." To further tempt him, he tied the headband across his forehead with the spiraling leaf staring right at him.

Of course, Uzumaki Naruto was known not to turn down a challenge.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka called again, slightly embarrassed.

"Here!" Naruto said immediately. He dashed for the room, unaware by the uneasy glances from the others.

When he was out of earshot, Ino asked, "He's doomed, isn't he?"

"Yep." was Kiba's only answer.

* * *

When in the room, Naruto was standing in front of two teachers behind a desk, Iruka and Mizuki, who was distinguished by the standard Chuunin garb and bright white hair. On the desk was a case filled with Konoha headbands and head masks, which was diminished to a selected few. Naruto gulped. He could do this; His friends were counting on him, Sasuke was betting on him, and it would hurt Arashi to see him defeated like when fighting Kiba.

"Alright Naruto, you're to perform three of the academy Jutsus and show us how you improved." said Iruka.

Naruto nodded. "I know."

"Then start." said Mizuki.

Exhaling a breath, Naruto started off with a simple Kawamari; he would save Bushin for last.

Without shouting out the command, his body was encased in smoke. Suddenly Iruka and Mizuki fell down to the floor, noticing their chairs are gone. The smoke cleared up and Naruto stood there smirking with the two chairs in front of him.

"I would say that would work, right Iruka?" Mizuki said with a smile.

His colleague grunted, probably not expecting a prank in testing. "Yeah, I guess."

Naruto smiled to himself. One down, two to go. Henge shouldn't be as big of a problem, but still tricky.

Mizuki looked surprised noticing the blonde's slight anxiety. "Is something wrong Naruto?"

"Huh? Oh no, nothing. Just a little excited.

Mizuki smiled. "Well just try to relax and have fun. Just because this is graduation doesn't mean you shouldn't make the most out of it."

As if struck by inspiration, Naruto flashed a bright smile, which soon became a mischievous big grin.

"Thanks, Mizuki-sensei!"

"If you were to continue, now…" Iruka said, growing impatient.

"What do I have to Henge into?" Naruto asked, to be sure.

"Anything." said Iruka. "As long as it looks lively and realistic."

"Gotcha!" Naruto held another hand-sign again and was enveloped in smoke again, but what exactly came out wasn't what either teacher expected.

In Naruto's place was a tall girl, with the same skin tone, whisker marks, and hair color, which was now long and in pigtails. The smoke was still there, but merely covering her 'assets' so suggestively. The girl looked at them and gave a sexy heart wink.

Needless to say, both Iruka and Mizuki fell down from their tipped over chairs with blood gushing out their nostrils like geysers. Naruto dismissed the jutsu and laughed heartily.

"DAMMIT NARUTO! I DIDN'T MEAN LIKE THAT!!" Iruka roared, holding a tissue up his nose to stop the bleeding.

"But you said lively and realistic! And Mizuki-sensei said to have fun! How else could I do all three without the Oiroke no Jutsu?!"

"Yes, well, we didn't expect you to take it that far, Naruto." Mizuki said, also with a tissue paper to his nose.

Iruka sighed. "Well, since it is an illusion, I guess I could give you credit for Henge."

_'That's two…_' Naruto counted. _'All that's left is…'  
_  
"Now, show us your Bunshin."

Naruto gulped. How he hated this technique. When was he ever going to use this?! They can't even do anything practical except make poor scapegoats and even then it sucks!

_'Ok, calm down. There's nothing to worry about. Everyone's counting on you, remember?_

_'Sarutobi, Iruka, Old Ramen man, Ayame, Azami, Ino, Hinata Kiba, Akamaru, Sasuke, Arashi…_

_'It's funny how many people I'm influenced with just one Riolu. From berry finding to brawl fighting, he helped me make better connections in the time span of a month more than it did for almost a decade._

_'It was because of that yellow guy that he made me get this far, and I'm going to go through with this and win._

_'And if I don't... I'd be screwed and laughed at, but Arashi would still love me, right?_

_'…On second thought, let's not jinx it.'  
_  
With that at the back of his mind, Naruto pulled out one more handsign and cried out, "BUSHIN NO JUTSU!"

* * *

Several minutes earlier, Ino, Hinata, and Kiba (and Akamaru) all winced when they heard screaming at the door. Definitely not a good sign on his part.

"Y-you d-didn't think he used th-th-that, do you?" Hinata shuttered, more embarrassed than usual.

Ino sighed. "This is _'Naruto'_ for crying out loud. Of course he would do it."

"Man, I wish I got to see it again." Kiba said dreamily. Hinata shuddered more and Ino glared at him darkly.

"Pervert."

Kiba blinked. "What? He looks hot as a girl! Hell, I almost wished was born one seeing him like that!"

"Naruto as a girl..." Ino said, stiffing a giggle. "Man, that'll be the day! I can't even begin to imagine what he would do as one."

Hinata giggled as well, thinking of another feminine blonde (next to Ino).

"Hehe, you'd think he, I mean, _she_ would stay a civilian or try to be a shinobi?"

"Of course she'd be a ninja!" Ino laughed. "We're thinking of him with a sex change, not a personality change! She would still be loud and annoying!"

"Yeah, but I'd still date her!" Kiba smirked, and soon all three of them laughed full-heartedly. It didn't go off with some others staring at them with confusion.

Chouji one in particular, paused from eating to think about it, and started to blush. He did admit, Naruto did look amazing whenever using that 'Sexy' Jutsu.

'_Naruto a girl? That's… not exactly farfetched, I suppose. I mean, she looks nice, and wouldn't normally be bossy like Ino or Sakura, or afraid of her own opinions like Hinata. ...Oh man, I must be having problems if thinking a guy under some illusion is attractive.'_

"Shikamaru, did you just hear them saying what Nar…"

"No." Shikamaru wasted no time answering that question. While he looked peaceful lying down, he was being mentally tormented. _'Damn those three getting that image stuck in my head. As if we didn't have enough loud troublesome women. Though she does look pretty… Gah! So… Troublesome!'_

Sasuke, surprisingly, had the same problem, and couldn't help but to twitch.

'_My god that is so disturbing. Hell, the only reason he actually looks sexy is because he molded his Henge out of his own fantasies! And none of these fan girls have anything that could top that. I guess I wouldn't mind having fans looking like 'her'… No no no! I have a life-long mission! I have no time for such wrong, weird, perverted thoughts!'  
_  
Shino didn't seem at all thinking about the female Naruto, but rather on the three's interaction with one another.

'_Normally, they wouldn't have forced themselves to get along unless required. It would seem that Naruto and his little friend have brought them jointly. Such is a precious gift that Naruto has received.' _

He remained silent before venturing the same curiosity as well.

'_I wonder if she would hold an interest to arachnids if born feminine…'_

This question was soon subsided and quiet again, leaving the students and graduates wondering when the dope was coming out. The anxious anxiety of that one student was worrying them out of their wits, until finally, the door opened.

Uzumaki Naruto, tall and stoic, walked out the room.

The Konoha Headband was tied on his forehead.

Chouji's potato chip dropped on the floor, midway of being eaten.

Shikamaru rubbed his eyes open in denial.

Shino raised an eyebrow, but still remained impassive.

Hinata felt tears forming in her eyes.

Kiba and Ino high-fived. "YATTA!"

Sasuke smirked.

Sakura and every other student stared at him, gaping like fish.

Naruto slowly smiled, and held two fingers, V-shaped, and shouted in a slightly drained voice.

"Who's the dead-last now, huh?!"

Then he collapsed face first.

Everyone in the room sweat dropped.

* * *

OoC: Finally got around to another chapter at a much quicker pace than last time. Expect noncanon team groups next chapter.

Naruto and Arashi! Omake! #3

_That Night  
_  
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kotetsu asked Izumo as they leaped house to house in the dark night.

"How else are we going to know if the kid isn't going to pull a fast one on us?" Izumo answered. "This is Naruto we're talking about, and you saw all the tools he bought! Streamers! Balloons! _Pop rocks_!"

"Ok, Ok, I get the point!"

They arrived at Naruto's house stealthily and opened up a window without even a lock pick.

"See, this is why we've been promoted." Izumo smirked.

"You know it!" Kotetsu agreed with a grin. As they opened it up, the two of them leaned forward and collapsed through the house headfirst. The window, fortunately, was still intact.

"We meant to do that!" Izumo said quickly.

"Right!" Kotetsu agreed.

The two of them wandered around the room, making sure that they wouldn't wake up the brat. It was hard to get around since they could see where they were going. Kotetsu quickly tripped over a chair and fell down with it.

Izumo grew worried and dashed around frantically whispering.

"Kotetsu! Kotetsu! Where are you!?"

"Under your foot."

The spikey haired Jounin looked under to see his loinclothed friend under him, slightly bruised and annoyed.

"Heheh… sorry."

After helping him up, the two eventually found the light switch and were surprised to what they found.

"It's… a party?!"

"…I told you."

Kotetsu glared at his friend. "No you didn't, Izumo! I did! You said it was a stupid prank."

"Well it doesn't look like it now, does it?"

Indeed, it was what Kotetsu had said at the beginning; a party. The streamers weren't tape-string jungles; they were party favors. The balloons weren't filled with water; just helium, with a long string tied at the end. The party hats and napkins were nicely placed on the table by five different chairs; not strapped to the Inuzuka dogs. Then there was the cake; it looked like nice enough, with pink frosting and chocolate batter, with an unlit candle on the top and frosting saying 'Happy Birthday, Arashi!'.

It was a small, mediocre party at best, but it was a nice attempt at one.

Izumo couldn't resist himself when scooping up a bit of the frosting at the end.

"Izumo!" Kotetsu scold as his partner/friend licked his finger clean.

"Hmm… I don't feel anything. No bathroom urges, no stomach pain… but I taste a little… popping sensation."

The two of them stared at each other with wide eyes, and immediately went searching; Izumo by the stove/oven, and Kotetsu to the trash.

"The wrappers are all here, and opened." Kotetsu said astounded.

"There's a bunch of pop rock bits all over the oven, too!" Izumo exclaimed.

"You're meaning to tell me…" Kotetsu said.

"That he used pop rocks…" Izumo continued.

"On the cake?!" They finished simultaneously. They stared at the cake, the evidence, the cake again, and then themselves. They laughed.

"Oh man, that's a load off my back."

"You said it. But really, Pop Rocks in a cake? What was this kid thinking?"

"Probably to please this sweet tooth the Riolu has." When Izumo looked at his friend weird, Kotetsu corrected himself. "I heard them talking about how the Riolu likes sweet things. Thinking back on it now, this would make the most sense."

The two of them eventually calmed down, and were ready to leave when Izumo had an idea.

"Should we have a slice?"

"Izumo. This is their cake. We shouldn't be involved."

The spikey haired nin pulled out a cutting knife from the drawer.

"Ah, one thin slice wouldn't hurt. They'll hardly notice it."

Before Kotetsu could argue further, Izumo slowly dropped the knife to the cake and sliced it.

The cake immediately blew up, and the room was covered in a thick, pink gooey  
mess.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I told you."

Izumo grew offended. "No you didn't! I was the one that said that this was a prank!"

"And you said it was a party when it was my defense in the first place."

"…Touché."

"Besides, I meant what I said about the cake, and look what happened!"

"You worry too much, Kotetsu. I doubt they'll hardly notice." Kotetsu glanced at him skeptically. "You know, after we fix the mess up."

Kotetsu sighed. "We have a _lot_ of work to do…"


	6. New Moon

Naruto & Arashi Storyline

Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Pokemon. This is merely a made up story to entertain myself, and hopefully, people of both fandoms. Enjoy.

"That's the biggest damn egg I've ever seen!" Normal speech

'_Must be some sort of super dog.'_ Normal thoughts

"_Riiiiii-o?" _Pokemon speakf

"_Expect me back by next week at best"_ Flashback/Dream

"**Insolent whelp…" **Demon Speak

"_**BOOYA!" **_Inner Sakura Speak/Demon thoughts

Naruto & Arashi

Chapter 6: New Moon

Naruto knew not everyone would be pleased with him graduating, especially not the parents. A part of him was scared what would actually happen if the villagers knew, not what they could do to him, or rather they could do to Arashi. When Ino went in for her test, he quickly hid his headband in his pocket. When asked why by his friends, he simply replied, "I don't want to ruin it. I just got it."

Ino graduated as well. "With flying colors," she said.

After some cheering among friends, they all left the auditorium to greet their parents and seek encouragement. Kiba was being ruffled by his mother and sister's dogs, Hinata was receiving the few words of praise her father gives out lightly, and Ino hugged her dad until both their muscles strained.

Naruto, knowing he wasn't welcome here, quietly left the group to sit by the little swing in front of the academy. It was a place he always sat in when events like this happened; the last few years he had to see kids greeted by parents, some with hearty congrats for graduating or reassuring comfort for those who failed. He never had either. He was always alone.

Of course, through all this, he almost neglected to remember the little yellow dog sitting on the swing waiting for him.

Arashi stared at him with his big, red, hopeful eyes, sitting anxiously on the swing seat, arms barely reaching the rope ends. Neither boy nor Poke'mon moved an inch. Naruto could see that win or lose, the Riolu was with him. Such devotion, such attentiveness, such wanting… all of which the now-promoted Genin wanted all his life. To find it in the form of a sort of pet/child was too good to be true. He was even worried that it might have been all some great dream and would disappear the next day; he recalled the same thing happening when he found some nice little kitsune girl inside his head and wanted to help him in anyway possible. Too bad that was just a dream; albeit a weird one at that.

Naruto let a little smile pass his lips. Then he mouthed, "I passed."

Taking a while to actually study what he was trying to say, the Riolu leaped up and latched himself onto Naruto's chest with a loud _"Riiiiii!"_ He was genuinely happy.

Naruto could already hear the adults making rude remarks about him and Arashi, but he didn't care anymore; he finally had something that meant everything to him, and that's all that matters.

--

"I still say you could have done better, Kiba." scoffed Inuzuka Hana.

"Yeah yeah, '_you just happen to have two dogs when you were my age_'." Kiba said. "I heard it all before countless times…"

"Still, you did well in proving yourself." Inuzuka Tsune smiled. "If only your father could see you now…"

Kiba smiled sadly. "Yeah…"

'_Dad…'_

Akamaru ruffed a few times, catching Kiba's attention. He barked a few more, as if telling him something.

"Oh, right. Almost forgot about that."

"About what?"

"Well, there's something I wanted to do tonight…"

--

"It seems that you finally graduated." Hyuuga Hiashi said impassively.

"H-hai." said Hinata.

"It would appear that you have some hope after all."

Hearing this lifted her spirits up a bit, but not a whole lot. "Tou-san…"

"However, you're still unfit in being the Hyuuga heir."

Whatever confidence Hinata had died out, and she remained quiet.

"Honesty, you always hold back and are too timid to even say something. Even Hanabi can win in a fight against you, possibly even your cousin." He sighed. "It probably would have been best if you stayed as a civilian."

"What?"

"If you hadn't been a Shinobi, you would have merely served as a figurehead to the Hyuuga, but at least you wouldn't be so foolish as to die so quickly."

Hinata could hardly believe her ears. Her father… cared for her well-being? In such an odd way, true, being manipulated, but still...

"So, what was it you were trying to say?"

"W-well…"

--

Yamanaka Inoichi laughed proudly as he hugged his daughter tight. "My baby girl is all grown up now!"

"Stop it dad! It hurts!" But all the while, Ino was laughing.

After a few rounds of spinning, Ino was placed back on the ground, only noticing something. "Where's Grandma?"

"Your Grandmother wanted to go back and work on the orchard again." Her mother explained, sighing. "She spends too much time on that forest. It's nothing but a bad memory."

Ino blinked. "A bad memory of what?"

Inoichi quickly glanced at his wife, looking flustered, before answering. "It's nothing important. Forget it."

"Oh." said Ino. "Say, could I go somewhere tonight?"

* * *

Night hours soon left the village quiet and silent to the civilian half of the population. For ninjas, it was mainly a different set of work hours for the more efficient Shinobi, like the Jounin or ANBU.

Four specific Shinobi, however, were up and about around a young Genin's appartment.

Two Jounin were fixing up whatever mess they created in there, while two Chuunin were continently walking by, with one ranting his head off.

"How? Why?! He was supposed to fail! He's the dead-last for crying out loud!"

Iruka was honestly surprised of Mizuki's behavior. No sooner did Naruto successfully perform _ten Bunshin_ at once did he started to get into denial. It wasn't serious at first; it was more like a surprise that anyone would have expected, and he didn't think anything of it. Personally, he was glad Naruto finally graduated.

But then Mizuki started loathing and ranting and making any possible excuse he could think of. Even to as far as call him 'demonic'. Iruka did care for his friend, but grew worried on how he was handling a situation like this.

"Mizuki, please. Let's be reasonable…"-"

"Reasonable my ass! That brat had no talent and couldn't possibly make as many _bunshin_ as he did! Sasuke himself was only to do five! The fact that Naruto doubled the performance of this year's Rookie is outlandish!"

"What's wrong with you? You were the one encouraging him not so long ago during the test."

"It was only to make him feel less hurt when he actually fails!" The silver-haired Chuunin snapped. "I never intended for this to happen!"

Iruka narrowed his eyes. "You… expected Naruto to fail? Even after all you said to him?" As he spoke, his voice grew steadily louder.

Mizuki grunted. "What of it? You know full well what Naruto is, Iruka! He's the…-!"

"Don't even start!" Iruka's raising voice silenced his friend of any unnecessary ranting.

"That incident happed over ten years ago! The fact that you and everyone else still hold that grudge for something he_ didn't _do_… _now _that _is outlandish!"

"You dare stand up for him?" cried Mizuki. "The murderer of our friends? Our parents? Our _people?!_"

"I stand for people who deserve a chance." Iruka said. "And I know, without a doubt, that Uzumaki Naruto is one of them."

Mizuki cringed, disgusted at his friend, and ready to give out his own barb how Naruto blew up every chance he got while also proving he had no clear future of being a Shinobi. But held his tongue of any more insults; the sooner he could prove Iruka wrong, the sooner he could go on with better things. That was why he was "_unintentionally" _dragging his friend to the brat's apartment to see what he's really like behind that carefree mask of his.

As they approached the apartment, they noticed two Jounin, fiddling with a window. Iruka and Mizuki exchanged glances and stared at them, mumbling amongst themselves.

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

Hearing Mizuki's voice shocked both of them, turning around in fear.

"M-mizuki-san! Iruka-san!" Kotetsu shuddered.

"W-we can explain!" Izumo pleaded.

"It looks to me that you were trying to break into Naruto's room." Iruka said blankly. Both Chuunin instructors looked very superior to the Jounin right about now, and if the situation wasn't serious, it would actually be pretty hilarious.

"More like breaking out-"

"Kotetsu!"

Mizuki raised an eyebrow after examining them a bit. "And what's that pink stuff you're covered in?"

Kotetsu sighed. "Look, just give us a few minutes to explain everything-"

"I had nothing to do with this!"

"Quiet, Izumo!"

All four of them heard the door open before any of them could argue any further. Inside walked Naruto holding Arashi, with a blind-fold on. It was hard to see them because the lights were off, but Iruka and Mizuki could vaguely see an assortment of things in the room.

"What is he doing in there?" Iruka whispered as they huddled down to the ground.

"Throwing a surprise party for Arashi." said Izumo.

"'Arashi_'_?" Mizuki asked. He never heard that name before.

"Naruto's Riolu." Kotetsu answered.

Mizuki eyes widened as he recognized the Poke'mon in Naruto's arms. He heard that there was a Riolu brought to school a day when he was out, but since it wasn't brought back, he thought it was just a rumor. Knowing the truth increased his surprise and frustration ten-fold. "You mean _he _was the one who found the Riolu?! That must be how he…"

"Mizuki, please!" Iruka chided, a little louder than the whispering limit. "Shut up!"

Mizuki did so, reluctantly. Izumo and Kotetsu, not exactly knowing what they're talking about, decided against asking. They were in a similar situation of unasked question after all. All tensions of the Chuunin and Jounin drained away, as they focused their attention to the Genin and his Poke'mon.

"Ok Arashi, ready for your surprise?"

"_Ri! Ri!_"

"Ok. 1," He reached for the blind fold across the Riolu's eyes.

"2," He started to untie the knot.

"3!" he whipped the blindfold out and flicked the lights on.

Arashi opened his eyes and gasped in surprise. The two Chuunin were surprised too.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday, Arashi!" Naruto shouted with pride. Arashi immediately ran over to the table, hopping up and down to the side like an excited kid. His face was engrossed with radiance, his tail wagging like no tomorrow. He looked around, and noticed several seats with napkins and hats. Were Ino and the others coming over? He had to know.

"_Ri, rio!_" Arashi yipped."_Ri ri ro lu ri lu rio riu?_"

Naruto's face showed a mixture of pain and sadness, as if conflicting what to say. Arashi's smiling face gradually dropped to a questioning look, and the ninja outside waited to see what he had to say. They were all at a loss of words. Never had any of them, not even Iruka or Mizuki, seen the prank-pulling, always smiling, pain-in-the-butt kid look as sad as he did tonight.

That moment passed quickly, however; when Naruto tried to adopt a happier, albeit forced, smile. He even tried a choked laugh.

"Ah, you know, they're probably just late. What, with preparing for the big day and all…" He walked over and sat by his little friend, strapping on party hats on the two of them.

"We'll… just wait for them. And… they might show up."

Arashi slowly nodded, feeling worried if anything; sad even. He looked around at the empty chairs, wishing, hoping the friendly faces he had grown to known and cherish with his master. They seemed so distant now. What was there to fear of his master? He wasn't something bad, was he?

The ninja outside, meanwhile, watched this in awed silence. It was quite obvious that no one would want their children to go to the boy's 'surprise' party when they were just scared enough of him living in their very village. Now that the brat had a little companion of sorts, it just might make things harder for him, seeing someone else feel alone because of him.

"Poor kid." said Kotetsu.

Izumo shrugged. "Well, at least we cleaned up the mess. If they saw the place after we were in there, then he would feel MUCH worse."

Iruka blinked. It took him a few minutes to get the meaning of that statement, until he started to seethe. "What a minute; you BROKE into Naruto's APARTMENT?! AND RUINED IT?! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TWO IDIOTS DO?!"

Kotetsu grew worried, shaking his hands in denial. "Now, now, I've said that there's a perfect explanation for this-"

"Can I write my will first?" Izumo asked with a raised hand; already his eyes were covered with streaming tears.

"IZUMO!"

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE ANYWAY!"

"Oh, I assure you; you two WILL be dead, WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU!!"

During the whole bickering of the three ninja, Mizuki quietly slipped away from the scene, shocked and confused, needing some time and space to think clearly. It would be several minutes before Iruka finally noticed his friend missing.

And by then he would be long gone.

* * *

"_I said 'No', Kiba!" Tsune growled, while preparing for the family dinner._

_Kiba growled back. "And I say 'why the hell not'?!"_

"_Kiba, this is just a complicated thing." Hana calmly explained. "Let's just say that…Naruto isn't someone that Inuzukas can relate with and just leave it at that."_

"_That's just stupid! Naruto is more than just some nuisance! He could get along great with the Inuzuka clan! You just never took the time to know him, since he shows much of our morals in his own way! What the hell is so wrong just to go over to his place for ONE night?!"_

_Tsune pinched the bridge of her nose, exasperated. "Kiba, outside the Inuzuka clan, there are two types of people in the world. You know that, right?"_

"_Yeah. The preys and the predators."_

"_Right." Hana nodded. "The preys are people who are manipulated and/or hunted by others. They're those who are naturally the ones that are weaker and are cowards."_

"_Then there's the predator." said Tsune. "They're known for being the manipulators and hunters, and overall stronger of the two. They're usually feared by others, and can only be beaten by another predator. In other words, neither can get along because the prey is scared of the predator."_

"_So, what's Naruto?" Kiba asked, though he had a good guess of what. "A prey or a predator?"_

_Simultaneously, Tsune said "Prey" while Hana, unintentionally by the looks of it, said "Predator". The two of them immediately stared at each other, while Kiba blinked in confusion. He never saw his mother glare so darkly at his sister before. Nor did he see her sister look so scared and sorrowful either._

"_Forget it." Tsune said quickly. "Just go to your room and wait until dinner is ready."_

"_But…"_

"_NOW!"_

To Kiba, it dawned to him how silly it was that an Inuzuka could get confused about who is the predator or the prey. It's like a sixth sense, intentionally knowing if they are weaker or stronger to them. If they're prey, they can be played around. If predator, they're dangerous.

Hearing both his mother and sister disagree on the same simple statement on Naruto's standing of character was…revealing. They almost never disagree on anything, and knew exactly who is weak or strong; they can sense chakra for crying out loud! They gained that ability when growing such a strong bond with their dogs.

So that's why Kiba is confused. Up until now, he was fully convinced that Naruto wasn't of any particular threat, so he was a prey. The fact that he was slow and weak proved he was low among Inuzuka. But hearing Hana say 'Predator', even for a moment, implied he had something more to him, that the Inuzukas, and possibly the entire village, feared.

He merely sat on his bed, throwing up a ball to the ceiling, with Akamaru sadly sleeping on his side, trying to gather his thoughts.

'_What exactly makes him a predator?'_

* * *

"_Ah, a party?"_

"_Hai. It's something that he's been looking forward to."_

"_I'm not sure. You probably don't even have a gift for this boy."_

"_A-ano, I-I'm sure Naruto-kun won't mind."_

_The shattered tea cup startled Hinata, but what really scared her was the shocked, even worried look her father made after hearing her speak. Inwardly, she was kicking herself for letting that name slip up. She knew his reputation was viewed highly by anyone, and her clan was no exception. The thick silence that followed after that didn't go interrupted, as the Hyuuga head tried to formulate words, and the Hyuuga heiress started to lose confidence._

"_The request you speak of is… unauthorized." He finally said._

"_B-but tou-san…"_

"_Silence!" He boomed. "And do not speak until I give permission!"_

_Hinata hesitantly nodded, as if she had just been slapped._

"_You, as next in line for the Hyuuga family line, and now a fellow ninja for our village, must take great responsibility for your future actions, and earn your respect for our clan. It is your duty."_

_Hinata nodded, not wanting to get her father angry by speaking up._

"_You're impression on the rest of the clan is… low…especially after the Cloud incident."_

_The young Hyuuga bit her lip, wanting to forget that memory. Her cousin still hasn't forgiven her for being so vulnerable at the time._

"_However, you were able gain some kind words of praise tonight simply graduating. It's still relatively small, but it's a start." Hiashi sighed, glaring darker at the young girl. "And now you plan to throw it all away for that _boy_?"_

_If she was some other girl, Hinata would have spoken up for herself and saying Naruto wasn't as bad as everyone thinks he is. But she wasn't. All that confidence she seemed to have gotten from her friends dwindled to nothing just seeing her father's disapproving look. She felt weak, as always._

"_Do you know what would happen when the clan elders find out that you, my daughter, were seeing this boy?" _

_Hinata quietly shook her head. _

"_You're small amount of recognition would plummet and if that were to happen," Hiashi paused, and with a little pity, stared down to his eldest daughter and spoke with fatality._

"_You would be marked and sent to the Branch family."_

_Hinata softly gasped. The Branch family… she always knew they held great resentment towards the Main family, and slightly feared them because of the looks that gave her. She would have been killed many times over if looks alone could do that. But, to be sent to them, and be a branch member… it was like sending a newly caught puppy to a dog house full of killer hounds._

"_I will pretend this conversation never happened." said Hiashi. "As long as you never speak of, or for that matter, go anywhere near that boy. Do I make myself clear?"_

_Finally given the chance to speak, she could only say one thing._

"_H-hai, tou-san."_

_As Hiashi stood up to leave, he paused. "Oh, and one more thing."_

"_Y-yes?"_

"_In the case of the boy actually wants to see you…"_

_Starting to leave, his next words were spoken like it was the simplest thing in the world._

_"Don't let him."_

For the rest of the day, she locked herself in her room, crying her head on a pillow. It was painful, but she knew for her own safety and newfound respect, she would have to give up her new friendship towards Naruto. Now she could only watch him from afar, like always.

No, not even. Because now that Naruto said they were friends, he would try everything to get her attention, if only slightly. She almost hated herself following him that night. She always knew that nothing came out of following someone without being prepared. While she wasn't brutally killed or kidnapped, she was caught in a bad situation. And in the end, both of them would feel hurt in the end.

'_Naruto-kun… Arashi-chan… I'm so sorry…'_

* * *

"_Absolutely not!"_

"_But why?!"_

"_Yamanaka Ino, you know better than to go near that… that… _THING_!"_

_Ino seethed. She knew her parents wouldn't approve of her going to him, but she never thought her own mother would be this mad. Her father was also upset but rather in a natural steady anger, letting the mother doing all the bickering._

"_He's just a friend!" She yelled. "You're never this mad when I try to hang out with Sasuke-kun!"_

"_Sasuke is a fine example of a young man." said her Mother. "Though I can't say the same thing for the brat."_

"_His name is Naruto!"_

"_Oh, so you know his name? Well isn't that nice!"_

"_So what if I do know his name?! That's more than what I can say about you two!"_

"_Don't raise your voice to me, young lady!"_

_It was at this moment that Azami walked into the room, a little surprised of what's happening. "I say. What's with all the yelling?"_

_Mrs. Yamanaka found her intrusion to be a breath of fresh air. "Mother, please! Speak some reason into this girl! She wants to go to a party held by that THING!"_

_Azami blinked. "What thing?"_

"_The very thing you let into the orchard." Inoichi finally said. Both other females gasped._

"_YOU WHAT?!" her mother gasped. Ino was just at shock at how her father knew._

"_I did." said the grandmother, still at her calm and easy tone, but also filled with resolve. "And I don't regret it. The boy has been through enough as it is. Don't you think it's high time we all let it go?"_

_Mrs. Yamanaka froze before glowing with rage. "'Let it go'? 'LET IT GO?!' MY BROTHER DIED BECAUSE OF THAT ABOMINATION!"_

"_I know, I miss him too, darling, but it's been over ten years ago. We all can't vent our anger on a single being. Would you think would want it that way?"_

_"Yes. Yes I do! Because I know he would do the same for me!"_

_Azami sighed. "This is Kushina all over again…"_

_Before Ino could ask who Kushina was, Inoichi spoke up again. _

"_Ino, go to you room, and don't you leave until otherwise."_

"_But-"_

"_I said, 'go to your room'." _

_A funny thing about Inoichi; he was known to be quieter than his wife and daughter, but had the force to make anyone listen to him with just a steady voice and some killer intent. No sooner did he say those next few words, his daughter ran up the stairway to her room._

"_And don't think about sneaking off from your window!" Inoich added as an afterthought. _

She couldn't think or sleep, with the constant yelling going downstairs. Mostly by her mom, but she did hear her father losing his temper as well. She couldn't hear her grandmother yell out but she supposed that was a good thing, right?

Ino sat on her bed clutching a pillow around her. Already she started to cry, muffling through her soggy pillow, as a means to make her cries unheard. She didn't want her parents going to her hearing her balling her eyes out because of something… so trivial.

But it wasn't. Naruto was her friend, like Sakura once was… and fate decided to be a jerk again and make it so they can't be together. This can't be as worse though; Sakura chose to leave her without any kind of remorse. Ino's parents flat out erupted and from there, she had a feeling she couldn't see him as much as she used to.

But it was bound to be as hurtful to the male blond and his raccoon-dog as much as it hurts for her…

She heard the door knock, and quickly yelled "GO AWAY!" She threw her pillow at the door.

"It's me, dear." Ino visibly relaxed hearing her grandmother's voice." She walked up and unlocked it for her.

"Are you alright, dear?" Azami spoke with her usual tenderness.

"This sucks…" her granddaughter sniffled. "First Sakura… now this…"

Azami frowned sadly, reaching over to hug her. "I know, dear… I know…"

Ino stood there sharing her embrace, silently letting her tears roll down.

* * *

"And that's all you have to report?"

"Yes."

"Hmm… these genin are hardly worth being the bulk of this village. Even Itachi was a more hopeful Uchiha than his little brother now, rising up to the ranks of ANBU in record time. However…"

"'However' what?"

"It is… interesting to hear that a Riolu has been found; and by _him, _no less. This is very helpful information to be sure."

"I know; I haven't found this out myself recently. The Riolu has been around for a while, perhaps a full year after hatching."

"I see… a pretty ripe thing, to be sure. I'll be sure to inform my boss about this. We could always use someone with his kind of potential."

"I doubt that will be likely."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"I-it's not that I think he isn't useful, far from it! It's just, it would have been better if he flunked again, but… Naruto passed this year."

"I'm full aware of this; you told me all about who passed and failed not too long ago, even their future team pairings. But… there's nothing to worry about this one."

"…"

"Anyone can abandon their past homes and morals when hearing what they want to hear. It's all in the art of manipulation. As long as you keep them interested and pleased with what they hear, they can forever fight for one's cause. That's how we gained help from some… _exclusive _clans."

"…"

"This boy shall be no different. Given his power and his little friend, it will bring us much closer to our goals."

"…are you done yet?"

"Oh, silly me! I guess I lost track of time! Well, I should get going. Oh, and thank you again for this information, Mizuki."

After the figure long left him alone in the alleyway, Mizuki sighed with some relief. A long time he helped that man get information all about Konoha, personally seeking revenge on the little creature.

But after what he saw tonight… he didn't know what to think. That wasn't the face or behavior of a demonic little boy. It was… no, he couldn't be fooled. It was all just an act.

Mizuki shook his head, fighting the odd urge to laugh. "Who am I kidding?" He said to himself. "He looked more relaxed in his own home than outside acting like a fool. It wouldn't make sense if that was the case."

He stared up at the sky, where no moon shined above. The only sources of lights were the streetlights along the road he walked. Iruka did once tell him that 'New Moon' as he had called it, means a new beginning, in a new cycle. Made more sense tonight than the time he told him about it.

Despite himself, Mizuki felt himself smile. "Maybe you're right after all, Iruka; in more ways than one."

* * *

Back at his office, Sarutobi finished up the final arrangements for the team selections. He, too, was genuinely glad for Naruto to pass as well as everyone else. People think that Sarutobi favors Naruto too much but that wasn't it. He held the highest respect and love for everyone in the village.

It's just no one else ever cared enough for him…unlike Iruka.

His change of opinion was gradual but not without guidance. He knew Iruka was especially torn up from losing his parents but he was the only one who could honestly understand what it was like for Naruto growing up. He just had to open his eyes and see that. Thankfully he did.

After a long time of decided with the other Jounin instructors he felt he had a strong idea who to group up. He was particularly proud of three of them.

First was his son, Asuma, leading Team 7 with Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji, and Uchiha Sasuke. The two former boys work well together and are more of a lax duo then one who take things seriously. He hoped that being with these two, plus his son, would give Sasuke a bit of a breather from the constant attention giving to him. Not to mention he was very versatile in any team plan, so he could be a strong fighter like Chouji while Shikamaru helped from the sidelines.

Then there was Team 8, led by Yuhi Kurenai. The candidates for that team were Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino, and Aburame Shino. The Byakugan and Kikai bugs are normally tools for reconnaissance while Ino's bloodline helps in immobilizing people and getting said information through their psyche.

Finally, Team 9, a group led by Hatake Kakashi, with his chosen pupils Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto. While the latter two weren't very keen on fighting or teamwork (especially with each other), Kiba was, and he felt this Jounin was ideal in helping bridging that philosophy. They all just needed someone to bring them in the right direction.

Content with today's events, the Sandaime retired for the day, not at all noticing the small pair of angry eyes glaring at him at a distance.


	7. Last Day Together

Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Pokemon. This is merely a made up story to entertain myself, and hopefully, people of both fandoms. Enjoy.

"That's the biggest damn egg I've ever seen!" Normal speech  
_'Must be some sort of super dog.'_ Normal thoughts  
_"Riiiiii-o?" _Pokemon speak  
_"Expect me back by next week at best"_ Flashback/Dream  
"**Insolent whelp…" **Demon Speak  
**_"BOOYA!" _**Inner Sakura Speak/Demon thoughts

**Naruto & Arashi**

**Chapter 7: Last Day Together**

Kiba arrived to the academy with a hung-down head. Even though there was the fact that they would get to graduate and finally get to be shinobi (and he could possibly work on his dream), the thought was often clouded by the fact he couldn't go see Arashi's little party. He'd tried sneaking out through the window but was caught by the search dogs with little effort. His punishment was no dinner that night but he could care less. He always kept a hidden stash of treats for him and Akamaru for such occasions.

Ahead of him in the road, he saw Ino and Hinata waiting by the end of the sidewalk. Perhaps they went to the party too, and didn't have such a problem with getting their parents to let them come.

Unfortunately, when he walked over, their heads gazed at him with that same hope too, hope that at least SOMEONE had gone to the party. Seeing each other with such an expression however, they all sobered rather quickly.

"You too?" Kiba asked finally. The girls nodded hesitantly.

The Inuzuka sighed. _'Naruto's going to be upset.'_

The three of them continued walking in silence, not at all questioning why the blonde boy was with them. They all had a certain fear of confronting him after breaking their promise.

"Hello, everyone!"

Ino visibly flinched. _'She just **had** to show up…'_

Haruno Sakura skipped along ahead of them like a bright sun rolling in on their rainy day. Unfortunately, her positive attitude was the last thing anyone, especially Ino, wanted at the moment. Not that she seemed to notice.

"Ah, Ino! Still trudging with Hinata and the mutt, I see. Are they more fun to hang out than Chouji and Shikamaru?"

"Actually, yes." Ino answered, without any sort of pride or frustration. Kiba and Hinata, however, felt a bit of satisfaction knowing Ino didn't regret being their friend.

Sakura shrugged it off, and walked ahead of them. "If you don't hurry, I'm going to make Sasuke aaaaall mine!"

She started walking off, waiting to hear Ino cry out her usual flare of taunts and get ahead of her. Then she could prove once and for all that she was the one destined to be with the Uchiha.

She waited, walking ahead to try and intimidate her rival, get her riled up, but… there was nothing. No angry taunting, no hastened paces, not even a cry of shame. Cautiously, she looked over to her shoulder and noticed Ino hadn't even faltered in her pace with Kiba and Hinata. Was this for real?

The pink-head could help but to feel some worry for her rival. "Um, Ino? Are you ok? You seem kind of down."

"Nothing you should worry your pretty little forehead about!" Ino huffed, and then she mocked thought in realization. "Oh wait, I forgot. It's a BIG one, isn't it?!"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched a bit. She could even hear Kiba chuckling from that last joke.

_'…oooookay, she's using insults. That's a good sign, at least.'_

She started to feel silly to even worry about her in the first place.

"Fine then! I was hoping for one last chance to humiliate you but you seem to be doing that yourself! I'll just go on ahead and get Sasuke myself!" Without another thought, she dashed for the academy, leaving the other three in the dust.

Ino didn't seem the least bit upset about this. She was rather too focused on her own drama. Not that her friends blamed her.

"Hey, guys! Wait up!"

Hearing a new voice made most of them tense. Hinata hesitated a bit then quickly dashed ahead as an attempt to get away from _him._

Naruto walked up to the others, surprised to see Hinata running ahead of them like that.

"Hey, what's up with Hinata?"

Kiba shrugged, and Ino did as well albeit hesitantly. She heard a bit about what her father told her earlier before Kiba showed up and promised to keep it secret…or at least not let Naruto, of all people, know. So, she lied. "She's just… excited I guess."

Naruto seemed to buy it, so he nodded. It was a little later during their walk that both friends notice an uncharacteristic blob of lustrous yellow on his head and what it was wearing.

"What's on Arashi?" Kiba asked.

"Oh, this?" Naruto picked up his Poke'mon hanging on his scalp and held him in front of them. Around his little neck was a small pair of goggles, a bit too big for the Riolu to wear. It was tightened so hard that it was just hanging around him like a scarf or something but was still firmly on him.

"Just a present I got for Arashi. I'm not going to be wearing them anymore since I have my headband, so I gave it to him."

Ino and Kiba both winced, hearing the word 'present'. It wasn't that they thought it was a bad gift for the Riolu; it was just that they felt guilty not being able to go to his party, after giving it such thought and planning.

Seeing that Ino was uncharacteristically out of it today, Kiba felt he had to speak up for the both of them. "Uh, Naruto, about what happened yesterday-"

"Forget it." said Naruto.

"But…"

"I sort of knew what was going to happen anyway." He interrupted again. "I was just so happy to finally graduate at the time that I didn't think about it. I never had my own party to begin with, anyway. It was stupid to go through all the trouble-"

"No it wasn't!" exclaimed Ino. "We all wanted to be a part of it and nothing changes that! We should have lied to our parents, anyway."

"Yeah, I suppose." Naruto said, still not convinced. He didn't seem to find this at all different or upset, just expected. It may mean that Arashi would be sad but he would grow out of it in time too, like he did.

Then, Kiba shoved something in front of Naruto's face. He was still stuck in his train of thought at the time and hit his head against it before he realized it. It was a small wrapped up box. He glanced at the Inuzuka with a confused expression, and so did Ino.

"Take it." he said. "It's for Arashi."

"What?" Naruto asked, confused.

"It was your friend's birthday, and I sure as hell wanted to come over too. Just because I didn't come over doesn't mean I can't give him something at least."

That… was something Naruto didn't expect. He carefully took the present and opened the wrapped top of it, peering inside. Surprised, he pulled out a small looped cloth.

"A collar?" Naruto asked.

"Someone needs to keep the little guy on a leash." Kiba smirked. "I mean, really. I know from personal experience that no one wants what happened to me to happen to anyone else!"

Naruto chuckled, now able to find the whole situation, which at first was scary, pretty funny. "Thanks, Kiba."

"Just remember to use your chakra to form a leash when you need him to heel. It's what we use on misbehaving dogs all the time. It's actually Akamaru's," at the referenece, he patted the dog snuggly in is hood. "But we don't need it anymore. Right buddy?"

Akamaru barked in agreement.

Ino stayed quiet, not really trying to talk. She was inwardly kicking herself for forgetting to get something just as nice for him. All she got him was a big bag of berries, but didn't even bring them in the off chance that she might be able to give it to him later. She didn't doubt that Naruto, or even Arashi would hate the gift. Rather, the little guy would love it.

But it wasn't special enough. Surely anyone, even Naruto, deserved something more meaningful then some bag of fruit. Who in their right mind would want fruit as a birthday gift? Maybe Arashi but Naruto was MUCH more of a ramen person. Wait… this was Arashi's birthday, not Naruto's, why did she even care?

No, that was a silly question. A better question would be, why didn't she care _before? _Hell, when was the last time Naruto had a birthday again?

Another silly one. Because she didn't know him before. She just assumed he was a blockhead and moved on. But here he was, taking care of some foreign creature like it's nothing. Ironic really, he's a parent when he never had any to begin with.

"Say Kiba, do these collars possess some special power or something?" She heard Naruto say.

"What? Power? They're just leather straps, for crying out loud. What the hell gave you that idea?"

Suddenly Naruto became loud again. "YOU'VE GLOATED LIKE EVERYDAY HOW SPECIAL YOUR INUZUKA CLAN WAS AND HOW YOU HAD SPECIAL COLLARS! YOU EVEN TOLD ME I CAN MAKE A CHAKRA LEASH WITH THIS! YOU MEANING TO TELL ME YOU MADE THAT ALL UP!?"

Kiba shot back with his own, slightly less impressive, yelling. "You have to _make _the chakra leash yourself. The collar is just there so you can have a good grip and you don't accidentally spike the dog with chakra. Why do you think it was automatic without some sort of effort?"

"I WAS HOPEFUL, DAMMIT!"

Despite herself, Ino giggled.

* * *

Upon arriving, Hinata had already sat alone in a seat. When Naruto walked over, she immediately got up and sat to the last available seat, next to Sakura. She was seen sitting next to Sasuke, and gave Ino quick raspberry. Ino didn't even flinch, starting to see how childish she once was.

_All this fighting was over just one handsome guy?_

She admitted that Sasuke was still in her sights for possible future husband but spending less time chasing him made her realize how much time she wasted doing just that. If she wanted to win Sasuke's heart, she would have to prove she didn't have her head in the clouds and walk-the-walk, not talk-the-talk.

Naruto just stared confused at Hinata, who for the second time just ignored him and ran off. It was almost like before, but without her face going red all the time. She looked scared or something. But when asking his friends, they didn't know.

Curious, Naruto jumped onto Hinata's desk, and kneeled down in front of her. As usual, she looked away. "Oi! What's wrong, Hinata?"

She stayed quiet, acting like there was something of more interest at the wall than in him. Naruto and Arashi exchanged glances, both sad.

"Get away from her, Naruto!" Sakura said. "You're obviously scaring her!"

Naruto ignored her, trying to talk to Hinata again, and flashing a big smile that squinted his eyes. "Come on, if it's about that party then it's no big problem. I didn't expect you to come anyway."

Both Ino and Kiba had just enough time to face-palm themselves before Hinata ran off, quietly saying "I have to go to the restroom."

"You really have bad luck when it comes to saying the right thing." Sasuke said sagely and smart-ass-ly. The typical 'Sasuke' way.

Naruto glared at the Uchiha, waddling over to be in front of Sasuke, and promptly said "Shut up."

"Take your own advice." Sasuke countered.

"Yeah!" shouted one of his fans. "And get off from his desk! You're one inch too close to his beautiful face!"

"_Beautiful_?!" Naruto shouted with bewilderment. He pointed to Sasuke's head. "Just look at the back of that so called 'face'! It looks like a chicken sat on his shoulders and died!"

Everyone in the room gasped; surprised yet again that Naruto insulted the last Uchiha. In his own presence no less! Then the girls all glared darkly at him.

"Take… that… back…" they all spoke as one, spooking the genin a bit.

"It's not like the guy cares!" Naruto said, but didn't notice Sasuke looked at a hand-mirror that a fan-girl once gave him as a gift with a somewhat horrific look on his face. He kept turning it around to the back of his head and noticed that it did, in fact, look like the backside of a rooster.

"All you ever do is insult our Sasuke!" Another girl said. "What right do you have!?"

"Hey, somebody has to do it!" Naruto replied, like it's obvious. "You all worship him, so what's so wrong with being the guy who hates him?"

"EVERYTHING!!" They all shouted, really scaring Naruto, who glanced between the girls and Sasuke.

Kiba, feeling quite mischievous today, decided to play a prank on both of them. While everyone was arguing, he snuck down and crawled over to the front of Sasuke's desk, ever so quietly and stealthy, like a true ninja. It's funny how no one else bothered to notice him, spending more time staring at Naruto or the girls. Amateurs, he thought. If he was the dead-last, then it would just be hilariously ironic!

Then, when he saw his chance, he shoved Naruto in the back, which sent Arashi flying towards Shino.

The result? Naruto and Sasuke lip locked, and Shino's glasses fell off, braking, as the Poke'mon crashed into his face and slipped into his jacket.

Everyone stood there in silence, staring between the two amazing sights they thought they would never see; a true boy-to-boy kiss, and a glimpse at the surprisingly attractive Shino. After what seemed like an eternity, Naruto and Sasuke broke away from the kiss, gagging, and Arashi thrashed from within Shino's coat, where he just stared at uncomfortably, until the dog finally popped out from the bottom of the hoodie and zipped to Naruto, where he hugged his head, shocked beyond repair. Every girl stared in gapping shock, which turned into rising anger, and a good handful of the boys laughed hysterically. Including Kiba, who rolled on the ground and pointing at the newly discovered yaoi couple.

"KIBA YOU BASTARD!" Naruto cursed. "You did that on purpose!"

"Yeah, I did." he admitted. "And I'm SO glad I did, too! You should have seen your face!"

"Kiiiiibaaaaa… Narutoooooooo…" The girls chorused again, radiating in a somewhat malevolent chakra. Sakura cracked her knuckles, ready to give Naruto his daily dose of "Idiot Ninja Whooping".

Kiba and Naruto noticed that not 'every' fan-girl was pissed at them. Staring some ways beyond them, there were a bunch of girls confused, staring off into space like they were in a trance or something. They could see a faint blush across their features, so they assumed they… liked it? After exchanging glances, they quickly disregarded it.

"Inuzuka-san. Uzumaki-san." a calm voice said.

Both of them turned to see Shino, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out another pair of glasses. They could see that he was angry.

"Uh, yeah?" Kiba asked, feeling hopeful.

"I do not find your prank one bit amusing, for two counts. One, Arashi invaded my personal space, as well as my colony. Two, he broke my glasses. I hope you realized that they're _not _cheap."

"Uh, yeah, we're really sorry, Shino." Naruto nodded. "Please forgive us."

"I'm afraid that is out of my power." he said calmly, as he placed a similar pair of his old glasses over his eyes. "You see, my colony requires vengeance for this insolent prank, and even if I wanted to, I can't hold back their thirst for revenge. They'll need to have a chakra offering, and you two are the offerings." He finished with a somewhat malice in his tone.

Instantly, as he heard that, Arashi zipped over and hugged Ino, scared to be near Naruto at the moment. Naruto and Kiba just stood there, starched white. Somehow, getting beaten by fangirls sounded like a much lesser evil then this.

"Rest assured." He said, as his coat flared a bit. "You'll still be living after the sacrifice. They're not that carnivorous…yet."

Then, swarms of bugs surged out of his jacket, floating high above him in a threatening way. Everyone could hear the loud buzzing noise they made while flying. Seeing the bugs again, Arashi fainted in Ino's arms.

"BEEEEEEEEEES!" Both troublemakers screamed, pointing at the swarm.

"Kikai bugs." Shino corrected them.

"KIKAI BUUUUUUUUUGS!" Naruto and Kiba shouted again, and were soon overshadowed by bugs.

* * *

Some time later when Iruka and Mizuki finally arrived, they noticed something odd, like the class was very scared all of the sudden. They thought he even heard a tumbleweed come rolling down the floor even, with an eerie wind. But what really surprised him was seeing Naruto and Kiba, all puffy and swollen from what seems to be bug bites. Another interesting fact was that no one sat near Shino. While this was common, they all tried to sit as far away as possible, and even the chuunin could sense a hint of killer intent from him. They exchanged glances, both startled by all this.

"Ok class." Iruka began. "Today will be your last day as a graduate and your first day as an official Konoha genin."

"Let us remind you that you'll need to work your way up through basic missions and training regiments, even after everything we covered here," Mizuki added. "Each of you will be put into a team of three, lead by a Jounin officer."

"Remember to trust in yourselves; your flaws, your abilities, your strengths. From here on, you will be trained to be elite warriors for your country. Always expect the unexpected, show no fear, and most of all…" Iruka gulped, as if trying to decide if he should say something. "…show no mercy when giving the choice."

"OI! SHUT UP! I AM NOT GAY! IF YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO SAY IT THEN AT LEAST SAY IT TO MY FACE! DATTEBAYO!!"

Iruka and Mizuki simultaneously sweat dropped, hearing Naruto's blurt. It took them a while to notice but _no one _was listening to them. At least, not until some girls started gossiping about the Naruto-Sasuke kiss and the guys talked about Shino's face and giant bugs. Both were widely spread rumors and enveloped the student's ears with curiosity and interest. Or, in the case of three boys (Sasuke, Shino, and Naruto), it filled them with great annoyance up until the point Naruto couldn't take it anymore and screamed.

Now everyone stared at him in shocked silence, seeing him puff in and out from his outburst. He eventually slumped back down in his seat between Ino and Kiba, not at all faltered by the stares. Now was one of those rare times he didn't like the attention he was given and flat out rejected it.

The only good thing about it was that some girls didn't hate him now. He did hear a couple of them say "He looked _kinda _cute, kissing Sasuke-kun and all…", so at least something came out from Kiba's prank.

Iruka cleared his throat, pulling the attention from the recent new genin. "Ok, we'll start giving out team names. Each team will hold three members, and will serve as your squad until further notice."

That perked everyone's interest again, as they heard Iruka call off their names one by one, and in some cases, repeating them for others. Naruto just ignored it, not interested in what the others were in; at least not yet.

"Testy, much?" Kiba whispered, with a raised eyebrow. Akamaru was seen on his desk, being petted with one of his hands.

"It was your fault anyway." Naruto replied, glaring at him.

"At least it will make a great memory for future generations to come." The Inuzuka smirked.

"But now you gave birth to two different fan-clubs." Ino said. "'The Naruto-Sasuke kissy club' and 'The Beautiful-faced Shino club'."

"I hold some resentment to that as well."

The three of them were startled, hearing Shino speak up from behind them, no one else by his seat. He seemed content that he had his share of revenge, but still held them in low regard, considering that the whole class saw his eyes now. It wasn't a personal thing; it was an Aburame thing. Seeing he had no other comment to add, they ignored him and continued the discussion.

"You're all just jealous you didn't come up with something," Kiba huffed, looking superior. The other three genin were not amused.

"...Team 7, run by Sarutobi Asuma ar..." Mizuki stopped in mid-sentence, reading over the students. His eyes grew wide with fear, and he had no voice to say what he wished. Iruka peered over his shoulder and saw what made Mizuki so quiet. They exchanged glances, and the two friends nodded to one another, intent that they shouldn't say that just yet.

Mizuki read on to the next one. "Y-Yuuhi Kurenai will lead Team 8. The members are Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Yamanaka Ino!"

The class was silent and confused how they dodged that so suddenly. Why skip Team 7? Who was in it? Well, that wasn't going in all of their heads. Hinata was secretly glad to be in the same team as Ino, but even more relieved not to be with Naruto. She liked him, sure, but being in his team would make things difficult to live up to her father's word. Shino seemed indifferent but was pleased to know he won't be around the two who caused him some distress.

"And the last team, Team 9, led by Hatake Kakashi, are Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, and Uzumaki Naruto."

Sakura lowered her head in defeat, as most fan girls have done when they weren't called to be in the same team as Sasuke. Kiba just smirked broader, and Naruto smiled.

_Finally! A chance to prove myself to Sakura-chan at last! _He thought proudly to himself. Arashi smiled as well, trying to reflect his master's happiness.

"And now," Iruka said, as he and Mizuki slowly advanced to the door. "You will all have a lunch break, waiting for your Jounin instructors to come and get you."

"And don't forget to stay with your teammates!" Mizuki added, trying to make himself look discreet.

"Good luck!" Both shouted, as they opened the door and left the room in Shinobi-like speed before anyone could say something.

"Hey, wait a minute." Chouji said. "Which team am I on?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "It's pretty obvious. You're on Team 7 with me and-"

He stopped, eyes widening, suddenly realizing why the Jounin instructors were so spooked earlier. It made so much sense. Granted, if they could just get out before someone else figured it out-

"Ha! It looks like Sasuke isn't on a team either!"

Shikamaru face palmed. Of course, Naruto, of all people, would be the person to drop the bombshell like that.

Soon, everyone was starting to connect the dots. Even Naruto, for his cheery smile turned into a face of critical thinking. "Wait…"

Team 7: Akimichi Chouji…

"We're so dead…"

Nara Shikamaru…

"That we are, Chouji."

Uchiha Sasuke.

For one brief and shining moment, Sasuke smiled, looked up, and mouthed "Thank you."

Then, all hell broke loose by the screams of many girls.

**"WHAAAAAAAT?!"**

* * *

"I can't believe it! Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru! Imagine that!"

Naruto nodded, feeling just as elated by that fact as Kiba was. It was pretty chaotic in there, as Shikamaru and Chouji ran out the door, carrying Sasuke with them, as about a dozen girls ran out to chase them down. Everyone else just sort of went out on their own trying to take this calmly and quietly.

The two genin were now looking for their other teammate, Sakura, who also ran out of the class room. It was like a wild goose chase now, because all they could find were girls searching at the front of restroom doors or in janitor closets to find their Sasuke-kun. Sakura happened to be walking around campus when they found her.

"Oi! Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved, running over to her.

"What do you two want?" Sakura said, with a bit of anger in her voice.

"Well, since we're on the same team and all, Iruka-sensei said that we have to stick together-"

"I don't have time for this!" The pink-head screamed. "I need to find Sasuke-kun!"

"Sakura, calm down!" Kiba replied. "This is our first time being in a group and all. Last I heard, teamwork didn't involve people running away from their other teammates."

"Yeah, yeah, after I find Sasuke-kun."

"But Sakura-chan...!" But Naruto was cut off by a hard glare from Sakura before he could finish.

"Look. I understand that teamwork and cooperation is important. We have plenty of time for that later. But I have priorities right now. This likely the last time I'll be seeing Sasuke-kun for a long while, and I'm not going to miss this chance! So, do whatever you two do and buzz off, you annoying immature bakas!" Then she glanced at Arashi and Akamaru on the ground by their feet. "And your little mutts too!"

With that, she continued looking; calling out Sasuke's name, while leaving two boys shocked and confused. Naruto was more or less use to it but hearing Sakura say that after a while of giving her some 'space', as Ino called it, was a bit painful. Arashi just stared at the back of her retreating back, like trying to make holes in her with his eyes.

"Ah well, we better get going." Kiba shrugged walking off. Naruto blinked, confused.

"Why?"

"Sakura can do whatever she wants even if it's not early team bonding." He turned around, noticing Naruto and Arashi still a bit shocked by Sakura. He put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, seeing him jerk and look back at surprise.

"Relax." said Kiba. "There's more to girls then just Sakura, you know." Seeing Naruto look a bit downcast, he quickly added, "But I'm sure she'll come around sooner or later. I mean, Ino did."

Now Naruto looked a bit calmer, Kiba inwardly exhaled a deep breath. The guy was always touchy when it involved Sakura. Before he took care of Arashi, he practically spend any spare minute he had to try and ask Sakura out, but now was his first time seeing her again. Now she just flat out rejected him like nothing's changed. Talk about a third-degree burn.

Seeing that Sakura was now a lost cause, they started walking back to find Ino or Hinata but stopped to see an odd coloring on the fence. It looked the same but a small portion of the fence had lines going horizontal instead of vertical. That…and there was a pair of small hands seen in at the top of the camouflage paper, indicating someone was behind it.

Shrugging it off, the two genin continued walking, not at all bothered by the little man behind the paper. No sooner did they walk ahead, that they heard something like poster paper being thrown off, and footsteps charging at them. They turned around to see a small brat charging at them. He was wearing a small yellow t-shirt and grey shorts. A scarf was wrapped around his neck, whipping around as he ran. The kid's face was small and young, with baby fat here and there, and his black hair was sticking out slightly under his grey helmet. In his right hand was a shuriken, ready to be thrown (or rather stab at close combat).

"I'll get you and become the Godaime!" he screamed.

Only to trip on his own scarf and fall to the ground. Kiba and Naruto sweat dropped.

"You're skilled, I give you that." The kid said, getting up. "You must have used some ninja trick to trip me!"

"You're kidding." Kiba said, his face featuring a mixture of disgust and amusement.

"Aha! Trying to trick me, huh!?" The kid said, pointing at them. "Well, don't think that genjutsu stuff will work on me! I happen to be the Third's Grandson! The Third Hokage! Soon to be the Fifth Hokage! Show me respect and know my name, Konohamaru!"

Kiba gasped, surprised at what he just heard. He never actually saw the Third's grandson before, but he couldn't tell if he was lying or not. Naruto didn't care. He just walked up to the kid, grabbed him by the legs, and then stuffed him in the closest trashcan.

"You can't do this to me!" Konohamaru yelled. "I'm the Third's grandson!"

"You may be the treasure to everyone else," Naruto replied. "But you're just trash to me!" And with that, he slammed the lid shut.

The trashcan shook violently, where the kid inside was cursing words in and out as it continued to shake, and eventually the kid rolled out, pointing to the still gawking Kiba and the retreating Naruto. He was now stinky, covered in dirt, and had a rotten banana peel on his head.

"You have a lot of nerve, peasant!" He shouted.

"Like I care!" Naruto shouted back. Kiba just shook his head and walked ahead too. Konohamaru got angry that he was being ignored and chased after them. He would not be ignored.

And he would make sure they would have a reason not to.

* * *

A loud banging was heard at the door. "Hokage-sama!"

"GAAH!" Sarutobi yelped, fiddling with his issue of Icha Icha Paradise, before hiding it in one of his drawers. He would be caught dead before people knew about his… hobbies.

"Come in." he said, quickly regaining composure.

The door opened, and rushing in was a man in a black body suit, and a pair of black sunglasses over his eyes.

"The Honorable Grandson is missing an…"

"Ebisu, I understand that Konohamaru has been giving you a hard time ever since you have been giving him special training. But he's young. They tend to be a bit hard to train at that age, being more excited in showing off fancy light jutsus and such.

"I know, but Hokage-sa…"

"Which is why entrusted him to you. You're a good teacher and very knowledgeable. With you I can be sure that Konohamaru can learn at a fast pace and be ready in the future."

"Bu…"

"And you're also like his chaperone. We can't have him running around the streets of Konoha, pulling pranks on everyone like Naruto did once. It helps to know he won't put in pop-rocks in the toilets too. Now THAT was an A-class disaster."

"Not so much as this one."

Finally the Sandaime stopped his rant and glanced at the Jounin. "Come again?"

Ebisu gulped, straightening his glasses before answering. "The Honorable Grandson has stolen the Sacred Scroll, Hokage-sama."

In a few short moments, Sarutobi was silent. But his next word had enough force as several screaming young women.

**"WHAAAAAAAT?!"**


	8. Konohamaru and the A ranked Secret

Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Pokemon. This is merely a made up story to entertain myself, and hopefully, people of both fandoms. Enjoy.

"That's the biggest damn egg I've ever seen!" - Normal speech  
_'Must be some sort of super dog.'_ - Normal thoughts  
_"Riiiiii-o?" - _Pokemon speak  
_["Expect me back by next week at best"]_ - Flashback/Dream  
"**Insolent whelp…" - **Demon Speak  
**_"BOOYA!" _**Inner Sakura Speak/Demon thoughts

**Naruto & Arashi**

**Chapter 8: Konohamaru and the A-ranked Secret**

Kiba growled for the umpteenth time. That kid from before was hiding behind that bush. He could tell because you could see the wrong color of green shading on the box behind it, and sticks of leaves poking out like antennae.

"For crying out loud, stop following us, twerp!"

Whether he heard it or not, the kid just kept following them, oblivious to the threat. Perhaps he was still mad that Naruto dumped him in the trashcan.

Finally, Naruto had enough of eating and walked up to the box, promptly lifting it up. This surprised the boy who jumped back a bit but he regained confidence real quick and looked superior.

"So you saw through my disguise, huh? No wonder you're such a great ninja."

"Buzz off, twerp." Naruto scolded, which surprised Kiba. Normally he would be all over praise like that.

"Are you still sore because that Sakura chick dissed you?" The kid asked.

Almost as soon as he said that, he found a kunai whiz by him, inches away from his cheek, thrown by the blue-and-orange matador ninja. If Konohamaru was scared before, he was frozen stiff now.

"…I'll take that as a _maybe._" He assured himself.

"Look, Kanahaki, was it?" Kiba began. "We don't know what you're planning, but we don't care either way, so just go back to playing whatever game it is you play now and-"

"Its Konohamaru!" the kid interrupted. "And I'm here for one reason only! That Pokemon!"

"Arashi?" Naruto asked bewildered. He knew he was the only Pokemon around, so he didn't need to look at the direction of the kid's pointing finger.

Arashi himself was surprised, yelping and looking at the boy who pointed at him. Kiba just raised an eyebrow, curious.

"That's right! He's the first Pokemon seen again in over a decade and I'm going to be one to have him. Once I do, I'll make it the strongest, coolest Lucario there ever is! And they'll _have _to make me their Hokage!" He found himself giggling and laughing the whole speech, proud and excited for this plan, uncaring of the hard and peculiar looks he was receiving.

"Now, come here little-"

_CHOMP!_

"YEOOOOOWCH!!"

No sooner did Konohamaru extended his hand to the Rioru, did it give a good hard bite on it, causing the grandson to scream in pain. He managed to pry it out and sucked the whole hand in his mouth, tears rolling down. Naruto and Kiba laughed.

"That's not funny!" Konohamaru said.

"It sure is!" Kiba said. "You had it coming."

"And Arashi is _mine._" Naruto stated. "I'm not just going to give him away."

"Not for anything?" Konohamaru asked.

"Of course not!" said Naruto.

"Not even for…this?"

From behind his bag, wrapped on his person, was a large scroll, all rolled and bundled up, showing some kind of royalty feel of superiority to the two of them. The two Genin and their dogs (save Akamaru) blinked, leaving Konohamaru to explain.

"This, my fair yet stupid stooges, is the one and only Sacred Secret Scroll of Konoha. All the high ranked and powerful jutsus from since the founding day of Konoha are all recorded on this very scroll. The very jutsu that destroyed the Nine-tailed Fox is in this scroll as well."

"For real!?" Naruto shouted, already reaching to grab it out of Konohamaru's hands. "Awesome! I can see myself now! Once I master that technique, I'll be the best ninja ever!"

_"Ri ri rilu!"_ Arashi chimed in.

"Not so fast!" said Konohamaru. "You can't just have this scroll! It's an heirloom guarded by generations of Hokages!"

"And you must have a good reason to have stolen it from your own fault." Kiba deadpanned, catching on.

"I didn't steal it! I _borrowed_ it!" Konohamaru exclaimed. "I'd be free to let you read the scroll but first…"

"Yes! I'd do anything for it!" Naruto said.

"…you must hand over the Riolu."

Instantly Naruto's cheerful expression turned sour. "Except that!"

Konohamaru frowned. "Dammit, I thought for sure that would work."

Naruto huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Look kid, I don't care how great that secret scroll is but I do know this. The short time I spend with Arashi so far is priceless. He's the first thing in a long time, maybe ever, that I ever felt was important and that I had something to myself only. The fact that guys like Sasuke and the so-called Hokage's grandson are greedy for him fills me with anger but also with pride that I have something that nobody else has. So, the answer, now and forever, is no, brat!"

The whole time, everyone stared at him with a mixture of surprise and awe, especially Arashi. He never heard such comforting words from his master before and was even more proud to have met him and see him defend his right to continue serving him.

After a while of staring, Konohamaru sighed, staring at the scroll. "Ok, fine. I won't ask for the Rioru. But… at least teach me the Oiroke no Jutsu!"

"NANI?!" Both teens spurred, shocked to hear the kid even suggest such a thing.

"It's my grandpa's only weakness!" He explained. "He reads Icha Icha Paradise nearly every break day and once passed out seeing that technique! It's the one thing I know I can beat grandpa with!"

"And you want to beat the Sandaime _why?_" Kiba asked, still in shock.

Konohamaru deadpanned. "I want beat him and become the next Hokage. Duh."

"Oi!" Naruto shouted, eyes sparking. "If anyone is going to be the next Hokage it's going to be me, twerp!"

"I'm next in line by right, peasant!" Konohamaru yelled, with equal static radiating.

"By the time you even get close enough to be Hokage, I would already be serving my 3rd term!"

"I thought that position was for life…" Kiba pondered.

Naruto and Konohamaru broke away from their electricfying stare to death glare at the Inuzuka. "STAY OUT OF THIS!"

And thus, Kiba did stay out.

After more staring and yelling, which almost brought the Inuzuka to dream land, Naruto eventually gave in.

"Alright, alright, fine! I'll teach you the Sexy Jutsu. But!" He added quickly, before Konohamaru cheered in glee.

"I read the scroll first! I need to know if it isn't a trick! After that, I'll teach you. Promise."

"Why? Just teach me YOUR technique and you can read the scroll after!"

"You STOLE the scroll, idiot! I can teach you the Sexy Jutsu any time but this is limited; possibly my only chance even. I'm not going to risk it now!"

"Yeah, you can teach me the Sexy Jutsu _any time_! How will I know you won't put it off forever?"

"Because I just gave you my word! Give me one good reason you can't trust my word!"

"Because you're a ninja?"

Naruto was silent after that, and Kiba only had one thing to say after that.

"He's got you there."

Naruto grunted, before coming with his own rebuttal. "Well so is everyone else in this village!"

And thus the spat continued.

---

Mizuki sighed trudging through the academy hallway. He wasn't very keen coming back after making that getaway, but he clearly lost 4 out of 5 matches to Iruka. He probably shouldn't have played Janken with him to settle this but what's done is done.

The only reason he was here was because they forgot some documents on student evaluation that needed to be turned in today. It was, in a child's way of saying, a Chuunin's homework assignment. What made this really difficult was avoiding the fangirls still enraged not to be on Sasuke's team. They suggested keeping Sasuke's team free of females so he might better focus himself without someone constantly badgering him over dates.

It seemed like a great idea at the time, in hindsight.

Either way, Mizuki was fortunate not to run into any student yet. With the documents at hand, he quietly and quickly walked to the nearest window, ever so slowly raising the frame up-

"Mizuki-sensei!" A student! Oh no; it sounded cracked. Like a female!

"GAH! Don't kill me!" He shouted, quickly cowering with his back towards the window and his arms in front of his face to protect himself.

"…what?" The voice asked, confused. Strange; it sounds much deeper now.

Ever so cautiously, Mizuki opened his right eye, seeing a black-clad man in front of him. It was Konohamaru's special instructor, Ebisu! Oh, thank Kami!

"E-ebisu!" Mizuki laughed. "What brings you here today?"

Shrugging off whatever fear Mizuki showed moments earlier, Ebisu frowned and spoke with upmost seriousness, trying not to crack again. "The Honorable Grandson has stolen the Sacred Scroll."

Mizuki's eyes widened, surprised. "Are you certain?"

"Of course. I was there when Konohamaru… slipped through my defenses." Ebisu said, looking ashamed. "He said something about trading it for a Riolu… whatever that meant."

Mizuki felt there was more to Ebisu's story, but stopped listening when he heard 'Rioru'. There was only one person he could be referring to… and he wasn't going to have that happen. "Tell me more on the way. We have to find Naruto!"

"Naruto? What would that de-"

"Don't ask! Just move!"

---

After a heated compromise, Naruto decided to let Konohamaru see him in the Sexy Jutsu at least once, and then as he would go read the scroll and learn what he needed to know, would help or see how Konohamaru was doing.

So far Naruto was having trouble trying to figure out what jutsu to use. Konohamaru said to use only one, and it was so tempting which one to pick out of such a powerful scroll, with an once-in-a-lifetime chance, even. He knew he couldn't pick something like Kage Bushin because that was his worse technique. How he was able to pull off the regular Bushin at the Genin exam was nothing short of a miracle and even the knuckle-head knew that.

But as he read, his face scrunched up deeper and deeper in frustration._ Let's see… no, doesn't sound good. How about… no, too many hand seals to even count. Maybe… GAH! I don't even have a…whatever this needs!_

Meanwhile, against his own will, Kiba was watching Konohamaru and telling him how to improve.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" _poof!_ In his place was a skinny, naked boy, who looked more like a feminine boy then a girl.

"Too boyish! Girl it up!" Kiba corrected, from his sitting position against a tree. Akamaru sat next to him, letting his free hand pet his white fur.

"Right! Again!" _poof! _The figure was a girl now, but didn't look attractive at all; just geeky.

"Focus! It needs to look attractive! Focus on the breasts and butt!"

"Breasts and Butt! Got it!" _poof! _When the smoke appeared, Konohamaru-chan was on the ground struggling to lift her huge rack and her ballooned butt was wiggling in the air. Even so, it was more creepy then sexy.

Kiba smacked his forehead. "You're doing it all wrong, kid!"

"Hey, I'm just listening to your instructions!" Konohamaru shouted, just dispelling the jutsu. "You're hardly what I call a professional at this!"

The Inuzuka blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Naruto-sama was the one who made the Sexy Jutsu and he's the one who let me learn it. You're probably just some jerk trying to mess up my training!"

"I'm helping you because you're doing it all wrong you little twerp! I'd rather see my own _sister_ naked then your ugly transformations, and trust me, seeing my own family naked is creepy enough as it is!"

"I bet you can't even do this technique right!"

"What?!" Kiba's vein popped as Akamaru jumped away from his sitting position to him. The Inuzuka stomped towards the grandchild, practically fissuring the ground in his anger. "It's just a henge to another girl! Of course I can do it!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Prove it!"

"Can t- oh. Fine!"

Breathing in, Kiba focused on the henge sign, with a mental image of his own dream girl. "Oiroke no Jutsu!"

When the smoke disappeared, the figure was definitely feminine. Cute, perky curves and a well toned hip were covered by a thin layer of smoke, almost begging to be revealed. But that wasn't what really surprised the Third's grandson.

Kiba's usual feral dog face was replaced with a cat-like face, with a curved 3 smile and whiskers, black cat ears and a black tail. "Nyaaaah! What do you think?"

Konohamaru blinked, before deadpanning. "I think you're worse at it then me."

Kiba face-faulted, immediately dispelling the jutsu. "WHAT?! What is it with you?! You don't like neko-mata?!"

"You're the one who made it wrong! It wasn't anything like Naruto-sama's form!"

"That's because it's MY form! Don't I have the right to not follow the brat's own form of transformation?!"

Then Konohamaru had a sinister smirk on his face. "I get it. You like cats more then dogs. Does that mean you're a pussy cat?"

"THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!" Kiba snapped. His eyes were now white with rage, practically erasing any trace of pupils. "THE REASON YOU CAN'T DO IT MUST BE BECAUSE YOU'RE GAY!"

The younger boy's eyes flared just as bright. "THE HELL IT IS!"

This of course, let to more bickering on Kiba and Konohamaru's part, with a brawling scruffle dust cloud in progress, while Naruto struggled to find the right jutsu to use.

---

Mizuki frowned as he and Ebisu leaped through the forest. "Why would he steal the scroll anyway?"

"I'm afraid that's my fault." Ebisu said as they jumped another branch. "I was trying to give him the quickest training method to become suitable to be a Hokage but along the lines I mentioned the great techniques on the scroll."

"And you told him he could use them?" Mizuki asked, glaring.

"…When the time was right." Ebisu said, looking away. "He looked so downtrodden when I told him he wouldn't be ready in at least six years, so I thought that would be the end of that. I didn't think he would go so far to steal it right now."

"It's not that." Mizuki said, eyes narrowing. "He knew he couldn't use it so he tried to go for something he could right away."

"…You mean the Riolu he mentioned of?"

Mizuki nodded. "I think that since he knew the scroll was too powerful for him, he felt it would make a nice cheap trade off to get a Pokemon that hasn't been used since the days of the Yondaime. Knowing him, he must felt he would rise to Hokage in no time with that Pokemon."

"Sounds like the Honorable Grandson alright." Ebisu frowned. "Should we be worried?"

"Doubt it. Naruto is stubborn and wouldn't likely give away his Rioru to him. He wouldn't even give it to Sasuke. Besides, even if Naruto has the scroll, as long as he figures out there's nothing really great to gain, or neither of them read all the secrets of the scroll, everything should be fine."

Somewhere along his sentence, Ebisu grew tense. He hoped the Chunnin didn't sense it so he tried to pass it off the way only a skilled ninja could. "_Sure! _No problem_!_"

It didn't work; Mizuki did a double take over to his direction, his face turning from perplexed confusion to steady indignation. Inside the confinements of his own mind, Ebisu was sweating buckets.

_'Gah! Why did my voice have to crack NOW?!' _

"Ebisu," said the Chuunin, steady but powerful. "What did you tell him?"

---

Little did Naruto, Kiba, and Konohamaru knew, in the forest where the boys trained, that they were not alone. In one of the many tall trees, a shadow lurked, staying hidden within the leaves. Faint sunlight reached through the leaves and showed faint outlines of the shadow's form, but all the same, the shadow was unseen and liked it that way.

The shadow, a young woman, knew little of the boy's presence either, writing on her notebook. This continued until another shadow, a young man, landed on a branch just next to her. His tense face relaxed immediately when arriving and merely showed discomfort behind his mask.

"This sucks…" The newcomer groaned.

"Rough morning?" The woman asked.

The man scoffed. "More like rough day. This whole assignment getting on my nerves; I've been wandering around this village for who knows HOW long, working my ass off to be a well respected Jounin instructor, and for what? Putting up with bratty kids! It's always "best ninja!" this with the boys, and "prettiest guy!" that for the girls! What has this village come to?"

The woman waited until she knew the man was done, before making her own comment. "So, same old same old?"

"…yeah, pretty much."

The woman smirked. "Heh, sucks to be you I suppose."

"And what have YOU been doing?"

"Infiltrating ANBU forces. We just cleared our first mission and happened to run in some 'enemy' Shinobi forces."

The man's mood lightens a bit. "No kidding? Who?"

"Iwa."

The man blinked again. "The rock nuts? Why were they… uh, wherever you were patrolling?"

"It's only a wild guess, but I assume they were here for a meeting of sorts."

"With our boss?"

The woman rolled her eyes, picking up her binoculars. "Who else?"

"Huh. Well, if you ask me, I still think this is a bit early for him to be planning this ahead."

"And that is precisely the reason you're a lowly Jounin Instructor; because no one gives a damn about what you say."

"…wretch."

"What in the-?!"

"What? Never heard of an insult before?! Well I got plenty of them you little-!"

"Not that, you moron!" The woman interrupted, thrusting him her binoculars and pointing northeast. "That!"

Confused, the man looked through the binoculars. "I don't see anything but a few brats and a-HOLY SHIT! Is that a-?!"

"Our ticket to an early retirement!" The woman smirked.

At this point, a third shadow appeared from inside the man's backpack, poking its head out. It could barely be described with two long, bent ears and a big, soft horn poking out.

"_Sooooo _what are we waiting for?" it said.

"Indeed. Let's report this to our boss on the double." The woman said.

The male shadow chuckled, now having dollar signs for eyes. "I smell trouble and it's the kind that'll make us filthy rich!"

"_Thaaaaaat's _right!" the third shadow nodded.

With nothing more to gain sitting around, the three shadows left the tree, and vanished without a trace. They never even took to consideration what scroll Naruto was reading. If they had, they would probably try to steal it and cash in rewards for the _other _prize.

---

"YOU TOLD HIM THAT THE TECHNIQUE THAT DEFEATED THE KYUUBI WAS IN THERE?! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU **THINKING**?!"

"I-i-it was just a simple story to keep his spirits up!" Ebisu explained. "I never meant any harm in it! Besides, that is what everyone else was told!"

"Yeah, they were told the Kyuubi was dead but never that the technique that did it WAS WITHIN THEIR GRASP!"

Ebisu cringed again. Mizuki wasn't just mad. He was flaming mad with steam blowing out of his ears and nostrils puffing out smoke. The fact that he pinned him down to a tree shortly after he told him that little mistake made him even more nervous.

In his mind, Mizuki had every right to be mad. Because of Ebisu, he jeopardized the safety and secrecy of the whole leaf village. Naruto or Konohamaru, or someone far worse, may read the scroll far enough to read the final technique; the Death god sealing technique: Shiki Fuujin. Just using it would ensure the end of one's life and wasn't meant to be toyed around by Genin!

He calmed himself though; if they could arrive before the boys (or even anyone else) finds it and reads the scroll to the end, they should be fine.

But that's a very big _if._

"We can sort out your punishment later, Ebisu!" Mizuki said, which the Special Jounin replied with some eased off tension, if only slightly. "We need to find the scroll before the boys reach the end of the scroll!"

---

Naruto continued to read through the scroll, bored and oblivious to any techniques written on it. Then, when he reached the end, he almost gave up and was about to give Konohamaru a huge fit about these stupid techniques.

Keyword: _was. _He stopped midway on that task when he read the last technique, and just quirked his eyebrow in confusion.

"Huh? What's a 'See-key Fudgen?"

Apparently hearing his pronunciation, Konohamaru stopped bickering with Kiba and ran over to Naruto. "That's 'Shiki Fuujin'! It's the technique that defeated the Kyuubi no Yoko twelve years ago!"

"Really?" Naruto said, looking at it closely. "Doesn't sound like any super jutsu I expect it to be."

"Let me see that!" Konohamaru demanded, snatching the paper from the Genin's hands. His face scrunched thoughtfully as he read the technique. "Hmm… 'Use of this technique will result in sacrificial offering of one's self to the Death God.'"

"Death, in other words." Kiba finished coldly.

Naruto's eyes widened as he digested this information. "Wait, death?! How am I supposed to be a super strong ninja if I die after I use it?!"

"W-well, it IS the technique that the Yondaime used to defeat the Kyuubi no Yoko…" Konohamaru explained, though with stutters. "I guess it would make sense that it killed him too."

Curious of the 'technique', Kiba snatched the scroll from Konohamaru's hand and looked at it himself. The pre-genin immediately got upset over it. "Hey! Give that back!"

"Yeah, I haven't finished choosing yet!" Naruto chimed.

Kiba blinked. "This is a sealing technique." Konohamaru gasped and Akamaru growled while Naruto just scrunched his face in confusion. Arashi merely mimicked him, a little game to appeal his master.

"Sealing? What's a sealing?"

Kiba side-glanced at Naruto, seeing how even the 3rd's grandson was upset by his IQ. "See, that's the particular reason why you're the dead-last and I'm not."

Naruto's glare hardened. "That still doesn't answer my question."

Konohamaru sighed before explaining, while picking up a stick on the ground. "Basically, a Sealing technique is just that; it seals." With the stick, he drew a circle in the dirt, with a triangle diagram in the center. The triangle circle now had little numbers around the outer rim, running along like a clock.

"It acts as a sort of virtual doorway that is meant to keep things in, or in some cases, out and away from everything else."

"Ok, I get it, I guess." Naruto nodded, when in reality, he didn't get how something like sealing can work.

"Yeah? Well what _I _don't get," said Kiba, "is what happened to the Kyuubi no Yoko."

Now Naruto was really confused. "What do you mean? It's dead, isn't it?"

"That's what I thought too but Kanahaki right here said that this 'Sealing' Technique was what 'killed' the Kyuubi, right?"

"That's what the pervert told me," replied Konohamaru, deciding to ignore the mispronouced name again. Naruto and Kiba blinked at the term 'pervert' but shrugged it off.

"So if that's the case then the Kyuubi is very well alive." Kiba said. "Just sealed."

"Well… that's a good thing, right?" Naruto asked, starting to catch on.

"Not sure. Considering how much damage the Kyuubi no Yoko did to our village over a decade ago, we're not so much ready for another assault like that."

"Plus, seals are known to wear out over time." Konohamaru added. "It could be due to break any day now."

Naruto didn't like hearing these two talk like that, all serious and moody. It was like being told this was their last day alive and all because they just figured out that the Kyuubi isn't truly dead? Ok, that fact may have surprised him too but at least it's gone, right?

Not wanting to put up with this kind of attitude, he shot up from the dirt ground he sat on and shouted at them.

"Shut up, will ya?! So what the Kyuubi is alive? The Yondaime himself decided to make sure that giant furball wouldn't destroy our village and that's what he did! He saved us so why should we care if it's alive or not?"

"Because there's always the potential that it could come back and finish what it started?" Kiba answered. Naruto just shot back a glare.

"But I suppose you're right." The Inuzuka continued. "This is the Yondaime and he was able to beat the Stone ninja at the last Great War or something so we should be fine, right?"

"Yeah, I hope so," Konohamaru nodded.

Naruto grinned and Arashi did as well. They would never doubt their hero and idol, especially after knowing the actual secret to his victory.

"There you are, Grandson!"

Whatever happy moment the boys had was swiftly halted. From a short distance of them, two Shinobi landed in the clearing just behind them, both very familiar.

"Mizuki-sensei!"

"And Ero-sensei!"

Ebisu promptly face-faulted as Mizuki resisted the urge to laugh. "My name isn't Ero-sensei! It's _Ebisu-_sensei!"

"You're still a pervert!" Konohamaru shouted.

"Listen." Mizuki said. "We came here to fetch the scroll that _you _stole, Konohamaru. If you just come quietly…"

"And let me train you like a good boy, then we can all be on our merry way!"

Ebisu's interruption didn't do well on the mindset of Konohamaru and Mizuki, The Chunin teacher smacked his forehead at the foolishness he just pulled. '_This won't be over anytime soon…'_

"Got a plan to get rid of this joker?" Kiba whispered to Naruto.

"Just watch." The blonde Genin whispered, as he sneakily walked around the arguing group. His hands formed together in a cross formation, ready to use a jutsu.

Meanwhile, the 3rd's grandson exploded with a wrath that was just waiting to come out for a _long _time. "Hell no! I want to be strong and remembered! Not dolled up by some stupid pervert!"

Ebisu looked stunned and shocked at the same time, appalled by Konohamaru's reject.

"B-b-b-but I'm a great instructor! I've taught all the previous Hokage candidates who will strive to take your Grandfather's place! But of course, you shall be the one, true Godaime… if you follow me of course."

"No!" The young boy spat at him.

Now Ebisu was threatening mad. "Listen, honorable Grandson. I'm going to count to three, and I will expect you to walk over here and return that scroll! ONE!-"

"Awwww, why be so strict, Ebisu-kun?"

All males in the forest stopped their previous actions (including breathing) when the say a young, blonde haired girl was up behind Ebisu's back, rubbing her chest against his back and hugging him lightly. It was enough to make Ebisu feel light-headed.

"T-t-t-t-two!" He continued, trying not to be swayed.

Konohamaru saw his chance, and used his Sexy Jutsu too. This time it was a complete success, and worthy to make the tutor's glasses fog heavily. Between Naruto's form and Konohamaru's newly shapely 20-year form of the opposite sex, it was enough to make his brain shut down for a few moments.

"Paweeeeeeeese don't pwunish me!" He said in a 'cutesy-wootsy' voice, while hugging his right shoulder close to his imaginary rack. Now Ebisu was beyond reason.

Mizuki was also infatuated by the illusions, but wasn't a particular problem to him since he had no clones to work on. "R-remain calm, Ebisu! Remeber, the scroll!"

"Oh Mizuki-senseeeeeeei!"

"Gah! Don't kill me!" Mizuki shouted again, worried it was a fangirl. When he opened his shut eyes, it wasn't a fangirl. It was worse than that.

Two more Sexy Jutsu illusions.

"Awwww, why do you have to say that?" Kiba cat moaned. "We just want your company!"

Akamaru cat just purred in agreement. The two of them moved in and swiftly latched onto the teacher, purring all the while as they 'cuddled'.

If that wasn't enough for the Chuunin and Jounin Tutor, all four 'girls' kissed them on the cheek of their targets, causing them to pass out in a bloody, sexy concussion.

With their mission succeeded, the boys dispelled their jutsu, laughing hard as they reminiscence the faces of the poor teachers.

"Oh man, Mizuki-sensei looked like he was about to have a heart attack!" Kiba laughed. Akamaru barked in agreement, and Arashi applauded them all.

"Yeah! That was even worse then when he saw _me _doing the justu on him!" Naruto nodded.

Kiba accusingly, but half-heartedly, pointed at the Uzumaki. "Aha! So you _did _use the Sexy Jutsu during the exams!"

"Guilty as charged!" He beamed.

"I'm just glad I got back at that pervert sensei!" Konohamaru grinned. "Never again will I listen to his dumb rules!"

"Hurrah to that!" Kiba and Naruto cheered, while Akamaru and Arashi barked in unison.

After calming down, the boys continued to walk back to the academy and drop Konohamaru off so they can do back and meet up with Sakura and the others.

During the walk, Naruto looked over the scroll again, back at the first listed Jutsu. "Say, maybe that Kage Bushin Jutsu ain't such a bad technique after all…"

Kiba was surprised, since Naruto only passed because of fool's luck with Bushin. "Really? How come?"

"Are you kidding?! You saw how those guys reacted when all of us used the Sexy Jutsu? Doing it on my own was sweet enough, but think about it: I can make as many Sexy clones as I make with Shadow clones!"

The other two boys laughed, albeit sweatdropping a bit. "Shoulda known you would want to use it for something like that." said Kiba.

"Ah crap!" Konohamaru shouted. "How the hell am I supposed to bring back the scroll now?"

"Just give it to your granddad?" Kiba suggested.

"I would, but if I do that, it would mean going to public and showing everyone that I did steal it! I know I'd be in trouble regardless but everyone will hate me if they see me like this!"

"I think you're overreacting," Kiba deadpanned.

"Still, it would have been a good idea to leave the scroll with those guys, huh?" Naruto said. Kiba merely shrugged, not caring of the consequences he wasn't a part of.

"Alright, I guess I'll return it then." Naruto said, as he made a U-turn.

"Huh?" Both boys asked.

"It's not a big deal. Closet Pervert and Mizuki-sensei were looking for this, right? If we just give it back then we will be on our merry way. And best of all, they won't know where we are after they get it because we will be long gone. Problem solved."

"Huh, sounds easy when you put it down like that." Kiba smirked.

"I'll catch up with you and Sakura-chan later. See ya Kiba! You too, Konohamaru!"

Konohamaru just stared at the retreating figure of Naruto, closely followed by Arashi. A small smile tugged the boy's lips.

_'He… he said my name…'_

---

"I can't believe we were subdued by such a technique." Ebisu said, rubbing his head of the sweat that lingered there.

"It was your own fault." Mizuki said, pulling his sticky jacket away from his chest. "You got the Third's Grandson riled up long enough for Naruto and the boys to use it on us."

"I just wanted what's best for the Honorable Grandson!"

"Apparently, what he wants is to be friends with Naruto." Mizuki had come to see Naruto in a new light recently. While he still feels he needs to mature greatly, he could see from Iruka's point of view how it can be rough for him to grow up the way he did. He couldn't be half as bad as the rest of the village thinks he is.

"If he has to make friends, I would wish he would choose someone around his own age and knows good judgment."

Mizuki's eyes widened. "Ebisu-"

"We can't have him run around with _it_! He may influence him the wrong way for the wrong reason!"

Mizuki grew apprehensive seeing that the other Jounin wasn't listening. "Ebisu-!"

"I'm just glad we stopped this potential 'friendship' before it got worse and they found out that he-"

Finally he couldn't take it anymore. "SHUT UP OR HE'LL FOUND OUT HE HAS THAT THING SEALED INSIDE HIM!"

Mizuki covered his mouth, completely shocked at his own action while Ebisu stared at him with a reflecting manner. He slowly glanced back and there stood Naruto, eyes wide and barely clutching the scroll. Mizuki dodged a bullet, he thought, but already said to much when it came to 'sealed'. He just hoped that Naruto wouldn't put somehow figure out from such a vague clue.

For what seemed like an eternity, he dropped it and ran off the other direction, not looking back. That spoke enough. He did know. He knew about the Shiki Fuujin. He knew about the sealing. He knew about the Kyuubi no Yoko.

Both jounins exchanged subdued glances and thought relatively the same thing.

_'Way to go, Mizuki.'_

---

OoC: Yeah, sorry this took so long. I'm now doing this in rare times of update. The story will definitely have more action next chapter, where the team meets their sensei. And I know how many of you are bored with the same old thing. Rest assured; I tend to spice things up a bit. Like the indirect way of learning Kage Bushin or learning about the Kyuubi.

And I'm sure everyone will be familiar to what the shadows are like.

Also note, this is the last beta-work by a beta-reader and friend of mine: Elenea Galad. After a few or so chapters, I went seeking for help and found Elly, who always found my story interesting. Now I'm afraid this is her last time pre-reading my story, and it will be time for me to find a new one.

A bit of a shout-out to her: Thanks for reading my first few chapters, Elly.

And thanks to the reviewers and alerters so far. I plan to aim on this being the best Naruto/Poke'mon crossover on this site, and have come to believe it is true thus far, even if it has a very slow beginning. So thanks for sticking with me so far.


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